Klinkenberg slippage effect in the permeability computations of shale gas by the pore-scale simulations

The prediction of permeability (i.e., apparent permeability) for the shale gas is challenging due to the Klinkenberg slippage effect that depends on the pore size and gas pressure. A recent Monte Carlo molecular simulation method (i.e., DSBGK method) is employed to accurately compute the permeability by the pore-scale simulations at different pressures. The computed results of a benchmark problem proposed here are used to verify the accuracy of the simple Klinkenberg correlation model, which relates the permeability to the intrinsic permeability (i.e., liquid permeability) and pressure. The verification shows that the Klinkenberg correlation model as a data fitting formula is appropriate for the industry applications since the relative error is small in the whole range of the flow regime as long as it has been calibrated for each particular rock sample at the two ends with low and high pressures, respectively, by determining the model parameters using accurate permeability data that can be obtained by the scheme presented herein. This conclusion is consistent with the experimental observations of real rock samples by Klinkenberg as shown in Appendix.