Multifractal Behavior of the Micro- and Mesopore Structures of Brittle Tectonically Deformed Coals and Its Influence on Methane Adsorption Capacity

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 3042-3064
Author(s):  
Fengli Li ◽  
Bo Jiang ◽  
Yu Song ◽  
Guoxi Cheng ◽  
Guanwen Lu
Author(s):  
Shangbin Chen ◽  
Chu Zhang ◽  
Xueyuan Li ◽  
Yingkun Zhang ◽  
Xiaoqi Wang

AbstractIn shale reservoirs, the organic pores with various structures formed during the thermal evolution of organic matter are the main storage site for adsorbed methane. However, in the process of thermal evolution, the adsorption characteristics of methane in multi type and multi-scale organic matter pores have not been sufficiently studied. In this study, the molecular simulation method was used to study the adsorption characteristics of methane based on the geological conditions of Longmaxi Formation shale reservoir in Sichuan Basin, China. The results show that the characteristics of pore structure will affect the methane adsorption characteristics. The adsorption capacity of slit-pores for methane is much higher than that of cylindrical pores. The groove space inside the pore will change the density distribution of methane molecules in the pore, greatly improve the adsorption capacity of the pore, and increase the pressure sensitivity of the adsorption process. Although the variation of methane adsorption characteristics of different shapes is not consistent with pore size, all pores have the strongest methane adsorption capacity when the pore size is about 2 nm. In addition, the changes of temperature and pressure during the thermal evolution are also important factors to control the methane adsorption characteristics. The pore adsorption capacity first increases and then decreases with the increase of pressure, and increases with the increase of temperature. In the early stage of thermal evolution, pore adsorption capacity is strong and pressure sensitivity is weak; while in the late stage, it is on the contrary.


Geofluids ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Run Chen ◽  
Yong Qin ◽  
Pengfei Zhang ◽  
Youyang Wang

The pore structure and gas adsorption are two key issues that affect the coal bed methane recovery process significantly. To change pore structure and gas adsorption, 5 coals with different ranks were treated by CS2 for 3 h using a Soxhlet extractor under ultrasonic oscillation conditions; the evolutions of pore structure and methane adsorption were examined using a high-pressure mercury intrusion porosimeter (MIP) with an AutoPore IV 9310 series mercury instrument. The results show that the cumulative pore volume and specific surface area (SSA) were increased after CS2 treatment, and the incremental micropore volume and SSA were increased and decreased before and after Ro,max=1.3%, respectively; the incremental big pore (greater than 10 nm in diameter) volumes were increased and SSA was decreased for all coals, and pore connectivity was improved. Methane adsorption capacity on coal before and after Ro,max=1.3% also was increased and decreased, respectively. There is a positive correlation between the changes in the micropore SSA and the Langmuir volume. It confirms that the changes in pore structure and methane adsorption capacity due to CS2 treatment are controlled by the rank, and the change in methane adsorption is impacted by the change of micropore SSA and suggests that the changes in pore structure are better for gas migration; the alteration in methane adsorption capacity is worse and better for methane recovery before and after Ro,max=1.3%. A conceptual mechanism of pore structure is proposed to explain methane adsorption capacity on CS2 treated coal around the Ro,max=1.3%.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. T819-T833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Gu ◽  
Wenlong Ding ◽  
Min Yin ◽  
Ruyue Wang ◽  
Baocheng Jiao ◽  
...  

The marine shale in South China has great gas exploration potential, and exploration in the Sichuan Basin has been successful, but the degree of exploration remains low in the Guizhou Province. We used organic geochemical analyses (total organic carbon content and kerogen type), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), field emission SEM, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), X-ray diffraction analysis, and low-temperature [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] adsorption experimental methods to study the micropore types and pore structures and their effects on the methane adsorption capacity of organic-rich shales found in the Fenggang block in northern Guizhou Province. The results indicate that the microscopic surface porosity of the lower Cambrian Niutitang Formation ranges from 2.88% to 5.34%, with an average value of 3.86%. Based on nitrogen adsorption methods, the range of the average pore size distribution is 4.6–9.491 nm, with an average value of 6.68 nm. All of the samples exhibit significant unimodal distributions. The main pore size is less than 10 nm, and these pores account for most of the mesopore volume, which is generally consistent with the NMR results. The methane adsorption capacity of the shale samples gradually increases in the range of 0–8 MPa at 30°C and reaches a maximum at approximately 10 MPa. Positive correlations were found between the gas content and specific surface area, total pore volume, and micropore volume. These strong correlations indicate that the Niutitang Shale has a high specific surface area, a high pore volume, and narrow-diameter pores, demonstrating that it has a high gas adsorption capacity. The results of this study provide valuable information regarding the adsorption characteristics of marine shales and the factors that affect those characteristics.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1690
Author(s):  
Yong Han ◽  
Yanming Zhu ◽  
Yu Liu ◽  
Yang Wang ◽  
Han Zhang ◽  
...  

This study focuses on the nanostructure of shale samples with type III kerogen and its effect on methane adsorption capacity. The composition, pore size distribution, and methane adsorption capacities of 12 shale samples were analyzed by using the high-pressure mercury injection experiment, low-temperature N2/CO2 adsorption experiments, and the isothermal methane adsorption experiment. The results show that the total organic carbon (TOC) content of the 12 shale samples ranges from 0.70% to ~35.84%. In shales with type III kerogen, clay minerals and organic matter tend to be deposited simultaneously. When the TOC content is higher than 10%, the clay minerals in these shale samples contribute more than 70% of the total inorganic matter. The CO2 adsorption experimental results show that micropores in shales with type III kerogen are mainly formed in organic matter. However, mesopores and macropores are significantly affected by the contents of clay minerals and quartz. The methane isothermal capacity experimental results show that the Langmuir volume, indicating the maximum methane adsorption capacity, of all the shale samples is between 0.78 cm3/g and 9.26 cm3/g. Moreover, methane is mainly adsorbed in micropores and developed in organic matter, whereas the influence of mesopores and macropores on the methane adsorption capacity of shale with type III kerogen is small. At different stages, the influencing factors of methane adsorption capacity are different. When the TOC content is <1.4% or >4.5%, the methane adsorption capacity is positively correlated with the TOC content. When the TOC content is in the range of 1.4–4.5%, clay minerals have obviously positive effects on the methane adsorption capacity.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingjin Wang ◽  
Dameng Liu ◽  
Yidong Cai ◽  
Xiawei Li

The petrophysical properties of coal will vary during coalification, and thus affect the methane adsorption capacity. In order to clarify the variation rule and its controlling effect on methane adsorption, various petrophysical tests including proximate analysis, moisture measurement, methane isothermal adsorption, mercury injection, etc. were carried out on 60 coal samples collected from the Junggar, Ordos and Qinshui basins in China. In this work, the boundary values of maximum vitrinite reflectance (Ro,m) for dividing low rank, medium rank and high rank coals are set as 0.65% and 2.0%. The results show that vitrinite is the most abundant maceral, but the maceral contents are controlled by sedimentation without any relation to coal rank. Both the moisture content and porosity results show higher values in the low ranks and stabilized with Ro,m beyond 1%. Ro,m and VL (daf) show quadratic correlation with the peak located in Ro,m = 4.5–5%, with the coefficient (R2) reaching 0.86. PL decrease rapidly before Ro,m = 1.5%, then increase slowly. DAP is established to quantify the inhibitory effect of moisture on methane adsorption capacity, which shows periodic relationship with Ro,m: the inhibitory effect in lignite is the weakest and increases during coalification, then remains constant at Ro,m = 1.8% to 3.5%, and finally increases again. In the high metamorphic stage, clay minerals are more moisture-absorbent than coal, and the inherent moisture negatively correlates with the ratio of vitrinite to inertinite (V/I). During coalification, micro gas pores gradually become dominant, fractures tends to be well oriented and extended, and clay filling becomes more common. These findings can help us better understand the variation of petrophysical properties and adsorption capacity in different rank coals.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (16) ◽  
pp. 3764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saad Alafnan ◽  
Theis Solling ◽  
Mohamed Mahmoud

The presence of kerogen in source rocks gives rise to a plethora of potential gas storage mechanisms. Proper estimation of the gas reserve requires knowledge of the quantities of free and adsorbed gas in rock pores and kerogen. Traditional methods of reserve estimation such as the volumetric and material balance approaches are insufficient because they do not consider both the free and adsorbed gas compartments present in kerogens. Modified versions of these equations are based on adding terms to account for hydrocarbons stored in kerogen. None of the existing models considered the effect of kerogen maturing on methane gas adsorption. In this work, a molecular modeling was employed to explore how thermal maturity impacts gas adsorption in kerogen. Four different macromolecules of kerogen were included to mimic kerogens of different maturity levels; these were folded to more closely resemble the nanoporous kerogen structures of source rocks. These structures form the basis of the modeling necessary to assess the adsorption capacity as a function of the structure. The number of double bonds plus the number and type of heteroatoms (O, S, and N) were found to influence the final configuration of the kerogen structures, and hence their capacity to host methane molecules. The degree of aromaticity increased with the maturity level within the same kerogen type. The fraction of aromaticity gives rise to the polarity. We present an empirical mathematical relationship that makes possible the estimation of the adsorption capacity of kerogen based on the degree of polarity. Variations in kerogen adsorption capacity have significant implications on the reservoir scale. The general trend obtained from the molecular modeling was found to be consistent with experimental measurements done on actual kerogen samples. Shale samples with different kerogen content and with different maturity showed that shales with immature kerogen have small methane adsorption capacity compared to shales with mature kerogen. In this study, it is shown for the first time that the key factor to control natural gas adsorption is the kerogen maturity not the kerogen content.


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