Characteristics of shale nanopore system and its internal gas flow: A case study of the lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation shale from Sichuan Basin, China

The gas flow in shale nanopores undergoes a transition from continuum-transition flow regimes to Knudsen diffusion, rather than the traditional Darcy flow, due to the dynamic properties of shale gas. Thus, becoming the premise in understanding gas flow regime within the shale nanopores to further investigate how shale permeability evolves during gas depletion as well as to predict gas production. The microstructure features of Longmaxi Formation shale (Longmaxi Shale), characterized by SEM imaging, MICP, and gas adsorption, are dominated by micropores and mesopores that are less than 10 nm in size on average. Judging from the pore sizes of Longmaxi Shale and the general reservoir pressures, the gas flow inside shale matrix is determined as slip flow and transition flow regimes by Knudsen number. About the investigation of the Barnett Shale, a second-order slip model is superior to the first-order slip model in describing apparent permeability of Longmaxi Shale. Then and there, the velocity profile and volumetric flow rate in Longmaxi Shale are discussed with a second-order slip model. The gas velocity on the pore walls becomes larger as pressure decreases. The gas production enhancement due to gas slippage effect brings about a higher yield than that of Darcy's Law. However, shale itself is highly heterogeneous in pore geometry. Therefore, the model construction of gas flow simulation must be based on refined shale pore models.