Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
7178195 | Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids | 2014 | 15 Pages |
Abstract
Underground coal bed reservoirs naturally contain methane which can be produced. In parallel of the production of this methane, carbon dioxide can be injected, either to enhance the production of methane, or to have this carbon dioxide stored over geological periods of time. As a prerequisite to any simulation of an Enhanced Coal Bed Methane recovery process (ECBM), we need state equations to model the behavior of the seam when cleats are saturated with a miscible mixture of CH4 and CO2. This paper presents a poromechanical model of coal seams exposed to such binary mixtures filling both the cleats in the seam and the porosity of the coal matrix. This model is an extension of a previous work which dealt with pure fluid. Special care is dedicated to keep the model consistent thermodynamically. The model is fully calibrated with a mix of experimental data and numerical data from molecular simulations. Predicting variations of porosity or permeability requires only calibration based on swelling data. With the calibrated state equations, we predict numerically how porosity, permeability, and adsorbed amounts of fluid vary in a representative volume element of coal seam in isochoric or oedometric conditions, as a function of the pressure and of the composition of the fluid in the cleats.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Authors
Saeid Nikoosokhan, Matthieu Vandamme, Patrick Dangla,