scholarly journals Experimental Study on the Characteristics of Adsorbed Gas and Gas Production in Shale Formations

Geofluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Zhiming Hu ◽  
Xianggang Duan ◽  
Nan Shao ◽  
Yingying Xu ◽  
Jin Chang ◽  
...  

Adsorbed gas and free gas both exist in shale reservoirs simultaneously due to the unique nanoscale pore structure, resulting in the complex flow mechanism of gas in the reservoir during the development process. The dynamic performance analysis of shale reservoirs has mostly been conducted by the numerical simulation and theoretical model, while the physical simulation method for relevant research is seen rarely in the literature. Thus, in this paper, an experiment system was designed to simulate the degraded development experiments of shale, coal, and tight sandstone to reveal the output law of gas in different occurrence states of shale reservoirs and clarify the pressure propagation rules of different reservoirs, and then, adsorption gas and free gas production laws were studied by theoretical models. Research indicated the following: (1) The gas occurrence state is the main factor that causes the difference of the pressure drop rate and gas production law of shale, coal, and tight sandstone. During the early stage of the development of shale gas, the free gas is mainly produced; the final contribution of free gas production can reach more than 90%. (2) The static desorption and dynamic experiments confirm that the critical desorption pressure of adsorbed gas is generally between 12 and 15 MPa. When the gas reservoir pressure is lower than the critical desorption pressure in shale and coal formation, desorption occurs. Due to the slow propagation of shale matrix pressure, desorption of adsorbed gas occurs mainly in the low-pressure region close to the fracture surface. (3) The material balance theory of closed gas reservoirs and the one-dimensional flow model of shale gas have subsequently validated the production performance law of adsorbed gas and free gas by the physical simulation. Therefore, in the practical development of shale gas reservoirs, it is recommended to shorten the matrix supply distance, reduce the pressure in the fracture, increase the effective pressure gradient, and enhance the potential utilization of adsorbed gas as soon as possible to increase the ultimate recovery. The findings of this study can help for a better understanding of the shale reservoir utilization law so as to provide a reference for production optimization and development plan formulation of the shale gas reservoirs.

Fractals ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (04) ◽  
pp. 1740007 ◽  
Author(s):  
GUANGLONG SHENG ◽  
YULIANG SU ◽  
WENDONG WANG ◽  
FARZAM JAVADPOUR ◽  
MEIRONG TANG

According to hydraulic-fracturing practices conducted in shale reservoirs, effective stimulated reservoir volume (ESRV) significantly affects the production of hydraulic fractured well. Therefore, estimating ESRV is an important prerequisite for confirming the success of hydraulic fracturing and predicting the production of hydraulic fracturing wells in shale reservoirs. However, ESRV calculation remains a longstanding challenge in hydraulic-fracturing operation. In considering fractal characteristics of the fracture network in stimulated reservoir volume (SRV), this paper introduces a fractal random-fracture-network algorithm for converting the microseismic data into fractal geometry. Five key parameters, including bifurcation direction, generating length ([Formula: see text]), deviation angle ([Formula: see text]), iteration times ([Formula: see text]) and generating rules, are proposed to quantitatively characterize fracture geometry. Furthermore, we introduce an orthogonal-fractures coupled dual-porosity-media representation elementary volume (REV) flow model to predict the volumetric flux of gas in shale reservoirs. On the basis of the migration of adsorbed gas in porous kerogen of REV with different fracture spaces, an ESRV criterion for shale reservoirs with SRV is proposed. Eventually, combining the ESRV criterion and fractal characteristic of a fracture network, we propose a new approach for evaluating ESRV in shale reservoirs. The approach has been used in the Eagle Ford shale gas reservoir, and results show that the fracture space has a measurable influence on migration of adsorbed gas. The fracture network can contribute to enhancement of the absorbed gas recovery ratio when the fracture space is less than 0.2 m. ESRV is evaluated in this paper, and results indicate that the ESRV accounts for 27.87% of the total SRV in shale gas reservoirs. This work is important and timely for evaluating fracturing effect and predicting production of hydraulic fracturing wells in shale reservoirs.


2011 ◽  
Vol 402 ◽  
pp. 804-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Song Ru Mu ◽  
Shi Cheng Zhang

Shale gas reservoirs require a large fracture network to maximize well performance. Microseismic fracture mapping has shown that large fracture networks can be generated in many shale reservoirs. The application of microseismic fracture mapping measurements requires estimation of the structure of the complex hydraulic fracture or the volume of the reservoir that has been stimulated by the fracture treatment. There are three primary approaches used to incorporate microseismic measurements into reservoir simulation models: discrete modeling of the complex fracture network, wire-mesh model, and dual porosity model. This paper discuss the different simulation model, the results provided insights into effective stimulation designs and flow mechanism for shale gas reservoirs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingyu Li ◽  
Peichao Li ◽  
Wei Pang ◽  
Quanfu Bi ◽  
Zonghe Du ◽  
...  

Shale gas has now become an important part of unconventional hydrocarbon resources all around the world. The typical properties of shale gas are that both adsorbed gas and free gas play important roles in gas production. Thus the contributions of free and adsorbed gas to the shale gas production have become a hot, significant, and challenging problem in petroleum engineering. This paper presents a new analytical method to calculate the amounts of free and adsorbed gas in the process of shale gas extraction. First, the expressions of the amounts of adsorbed gas, matrix free gas, and fracture free gas in shale versus the producing time are presented on the basis of Langmuir adsorption model and formation pressure distribution. Next, the mathematical model of multifractured horizontal wells in shale gas reservoirs is established and solved by use of Laplace transform and inversion to obtain the normalized formation pressure distribution. Finally, field case studies of two multifractured horizontal shale gas wells in China are carried out with the presented quantitative method. The amounts of adsorbed and free gas in production are calculated, and the adsorbed-to-total ratio is provided. The results show that the proposed method is reliable and efficient.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 219
Author(s):  
Jing Zeng ◽  
Alexey Stovas ◽  
Handong Huang ◽  
Lixia Ren ◽  
Tianlei Tang

Paleozoic marine shale gas resources in Southern China present broad prospects for exploration and development. However, previous research has mostly focused on the shale in the Sichuan Basin. The research target of this study is expanded to the Lower Silurian Longmaxi shale outside the Sichuan Basin. A prediction scheme of shale gas reservoirs through the frequency-dependent seismic attribute technology is developed to reduce drilling risks of shale gas related to complex geological structure and low exploration level. Extracting frequency-dependent seismic attribute is inseparable from spectral decomposition technology, whereby the matching pursuit algorithm is commonly used. However, frequency interference in MP results in an erroneous time-frequency (TF) spectrum and affects the accuracy of seismic attribute. Firstly, a novel spectral decomposition technology is proposed to minimize the effect of frequency interference by integrating the MP and the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD). Synthetic and real data tests indicate that the proposed spectral decomposition technology provides a TF spectrum with higher accuracy and resolution than traditional MP. Then, a seismic fluid mobility attribute, extracted from the post-stack seismic data through the proposed spectral decomposition technology, is applied to characterize the shale reservoirs. The application result indicates that the seismic fluid mobility attribute can describe the spatial distribution of shale gas reservoirs well without well control. Based on the seismic fluid mobility attribute section, we have learned that the shale gas enrich areas are located near the bottom of the Longmaxi Formation. The inverted velocity data are also introduced to further verify the reliability of seismic fluid mobility. Finally, the thickness map of gas-bearing shale reservoirs in the Longmaxi Formation is obtained by combining the seismic fluid mobility attribute with the inverted velocity data, and two favorable exploration areas are suggested by analyzing the thickness, structure, and burial depth. The present work can not only be used to evaluate shale gas resources in the early stage of exploration, but also help to design the landing point and trajectory of directional drilling in the development stage.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 5427
Author(s):  
Boning Zhang ◽  
Baochao Shan ◽  
Yulong Zhao ◽  
Liehui Zhang

An accurate understanding of formation and gas properties is crucial to the efficient development of shale gas resources. As one kind of unconventional energy, shale gas shows significant differences from conventional energy ones in terms of gas accumulation processes, pore structure characteristics, gas storage forms, physical parameters, and reservoir production modes. Traditional experimental techniques could not satisfy the need to capture the microscopic characteristics of pores and throats in shale plays. In this review, the uniqueness of shale gas reservoirs is elaborated from the perspective of: (1) geological and pore structural characteristics, (2) adsorption/desorption laws, and (3) differences in properties between the adsorbed gas and free gas. As to the first aspect, the mineral composition and organic geochemical characteristics of shale samples from the Longmaxi Formation, Sichuan Basin, China were measured and analyzed based on the experimental results. Principles of different methods to test pore size distribution in shale formations are introduced, after which the results of pore size distribution of samples from the Longmaxi shale are given. Based on the geological understanding of shale formations, three different types of shale gas and respective modeling methods are reviewed. Afterwards, the conventional adsorption models, Gibbs excess adsorption behaviors, and supercritical adsorption characteristics, as well as their applicability to engineering problems, are introduced. Finally, six methods of calculating virtual saturated vapor pressure, seven methods of giving adsorbed gas density, and 12 methods of calculating gas viscosity in different pressure and temperature conditions are collected and compared, with the recommended methods given after a comparison.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 207-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongling Zhang ◽  
Jing Wang ◽  
Haiyong Zhang

Shale gas is one of the primary types of unconventional reservoirs to be exploited in search for long-lasting resources. Production from shale gas reservoirs requires horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing to achieve the most economic production. However, plenty of parameters (e.g., fracture conductivity, fracture spacing, half-length, matrix permeability, and porosity,etc) have high uncertainty that may cause unexpected high cost. Therefore, to develop an efficient and practical method for quantifying uncertainty and optimizing shale-gas production is highly desirable. This paper focuses on analyzing the main factors during gas production, including petro-physical parameters, hydraulic fracture parameters, and work conditions on shale-gas production performances. Firstly, numerous key parameters of shale-gas production from the fourteen best-known shale gas reservoirs in the United States are selected through the correlation analysis. Secondly, a grey relational grade method is used to quantitatively estimate the potential of developing target shale gas reservoirs as well as the impact ranking of these factors. Analyses on production data of many shale-gas reservoirs indicate that the recovery efficiencies are highly correlated with the major parameters predicted by the new method. Among all main factors, the impact ranking of major factors, from more important to less important, is matrix permeability, fracture conductivity, fracture density of hydraulic fracturing, reservoir pressure, total organic content (TOC), fracture half-length, adsorbed gas, reservoir thickness, reservoir depth, and clay content. This work can provide significant insights into quantifying the evaluation of the development potential of shale gas reservoirs, the influence degree of main factors, and optimization of shale gas production.


2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (08) ◽  
pp. 67-68
Author(s):  
Chris Carpenter

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 201694, “Interwell Fracturing Interference Evaluation of Multiwell Pads in Shale Gas Reservoirs: A Case Study in WY Basin,” by Youwei He, SPE, Jianchun Guo, SPE, and Yong Tang, Southwest Petroleum University, et al., prepared for the 2020 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, originally scheduled to be held in Denver, Colorado, 5–7 October. The paper has not been peer reviewed. The paper aims to determine the mechanisms of fracturing interference for multiwell pads in shale gas reservoirs and evaluate the effect of interwell fracturing interference on production. Field data of 56 shale gas wells in the WY Basin are applied to calculate the ratio of affected wells to newly fractured wells and understand its influence on gas production. The main controlling factors of fracturing interference are determined, and the interwell fracturing interacting types are presented. Production recovery potential for affected wells is analyzed, and suggestions for mitigating fracturing interference are proposed. Interwell Fracturing Interference Evaluation The WY shale play is in the southwest region of the Sichuan Basin, where shale gas reserves in the Wufeng-Longmaxi formation are estimated to be the highest in China. The reservoir has produced hydrocarbons since 2016. Infill well drilling and massive hydraulic fracturing operations have been applied in the basin. Each well pad usually is composed of six to eight multifractured horizontal wells (MFHWs). Well spacing within one pad, or the distance between adjacent well pads, is so small that fracture interference can occur easily between infill wells and parent wells. Fig. 1 shows the number of wells affected by in-fill well fracturing from 2016 to 2019 in the basin. As the number of newly drilled wells increased between 2017 and 2019, the number of wells affected by hydraulic fracturing has greatly increased. The number of wells experiencing fracturing interaction has reached 65 in the last 4 years at the time of writing.


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