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Due to the extremely tiny pore size of tight gas and shale gas reservoir, the modified Darcy’s law in which the intrinsic permeability is replaced by the apparent permeability that can be obtained by a function of three transport parameters (intrinsic permeability, porosity and tortuosity), is used to describe the combined mechanisms of viscous flow, Knudsen diffusion, the effect of the adsorbed layer thickness and surface diffusion through the adsorbed layer. A new apparent permeability estimation method based on digital rock was proposed in this paper. The digital rock with nanopores could be constructed by 3D pore structure images obtained from micro/nano CT and FIB-SEM images directly or reconstructed with Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method from the 2D SEM images of pore structure; then Lattice Boltzmann method can be applied to calculate the intrinsic permeability, porosity and tortuosity of 3D digital rock. These parameters are used to calculate the apparent permeability under consideration of different combined gas transport mechanisms. This method is applied to samples from the shale gas reservoir in Silurian Longmaxi Formation of Sichuan Basin and from the tight gas reservoir in the Wenchang Formation of Huizhou Sag. The results show that all considered transport mechanisms greatly impact the shale apparent permeability and cannot be ignored in shale samples. In tight gas reservoirs, Knudsen diffusion is an important mechanism at low pressures of less than 1 MPa. However, Knudsen diffusion could be ignored when pressure is greater than 1 MPa due to its smaller impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate models of gas transport in shale gas reservoirs must consider complex gas transport mechanisms and phase behavior in nanopores, as well as different pore types. The gas transport mechanisms in shale gas reservoirs include viscous flow, Knudsen diffusion, surface diffusion, adsorption and desorption. In this study, a unified model of nanopore gas transport in shale gas reservoirs is presented. Gas storage patterns are different in organic pores and inorganic pores. Therefore, we develop two fully coupled apparent permeability models to describe gas transport in organic pores and inorganic pores separately. The apparent permeability model of organic pores considers the gas transport mechanisms of viscous flow, Knudsen diffusion, surface diffusion, adsorption and desorption. The apparent permeability model of inorganic pores considers the gas transport mechanisms of viscous flow and Knudsen diffusion. In both models, stress dependence, real gas effects and phase behavior are taken into account. Then, the influences of pore pressure, effective stress, real gas effects, pore radius, phase behaviors and transport properties on apparent gas permeabilities in organic pores and inorganic pores are analyzed based on the proposed models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To find a reliable and inexpensive method to estimate miscibility and other reservoir parameters, as well as to monitor the CO 2 flood progress, this paper proposed a transient flow model based on a compositional model that considers the wellbore storage effect, skin factor and multiple-contact processes. The model solution is obtained with the finite volume method and by performing pressure transient analysis. The results demonstrate that the pressure derivative curve of the swept area radial flow rises first and later declines slightly; the pressure derivative curve of the unswept area radial flow rises first and later becomes flat. The CO 2 flood front can be recognized when the derivative curve begins to rise after it declines slightly in the swept area radial flow regime. A numerical well test interpretation method can be established based on the model used in this paper to estimate the permeability, miscibility, and formation damage and to monitor the CO 2 flood progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional Darcy law cannot accurately describe the combined gas transport mechanisms in porous media with free gas only (such as tight gas reservoirs) and porous media with both free gas and adsorbed gas (such as shale gas reservoirs). The gas transport mechanisms in tight porous media including viscous flow, Knudsen diffusion, surface diffusion and molecular diffusion are investigated. Both the equivalent hydraulic radius and transport properties including intrinsic permeability, tortuosity and porosity, are used to build the coupled transport models describing the combined mechanisms of gas transport in ultra-tight porous media with free gas only and porous media with both free gas and adsorbed gas respectively. The effect of the pore-volume occupied by the adsorbed layer and surface diffusion through the adsorbed layer is considered in the transport model of porous media with adsorbed gas. The influences of equivalent hydraulic radius and transport properties on the gas transport mode in ultra-tight porous media are analyzed and the gas transport mode criteria in ultra-tight porous media are obtained. The result shows that viscous flow is the dominant mechanism, Knudsen diffusion can be ignored and Darcy law is applicable in porous media with equivalent hydraulic radius more than 100 nm. Surface diffusion can be ignored in the porous media with equivalent hydraulic radius less than 10 nm, while the effect of volume reduction by adsorption of porous media is less than 100 nm. The critical value of the transport function of intrinsic permeability, tortuosity and porosity also is given in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]