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A Pore-Network Simulation Model of Dynamic CO2 Migration in Organic-Rich Shale Formations

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Abstract

One attractive aspect of CO2 sequestration in shale formations is the preferential adsorption of CO2 compared to methane, which may provide enhanced methane production as well as sequestration of carbon dioxide. In this work, a comprehensive theoretical model of CO2 migration at the pore scale is developed to study CO2 migration properties in organic-rich shale formations. The proposed model takes into account dynamic competitive adsorption between CO2 and CH4, slip-flow effects due to the nanometer range of pore sizes, and pore-size changes due to adsorption. Because of the high pressure and temperature, the injected CO2 is in supercritical phase. Pore bodies in the shale matrix are irregular in shape, with roughness along pore wall. The structure of pore body affects the amount of surface areas and associated number of adsorption sites, and hence, a shape factor is proposed in this work to consider the irregularity of pore structure in shale matrix. The sorption of CO2 leads to an apparent retardation of the migration of CO2, which is quantified in this work. The developed pore-network model is extended to consider the impacts of different spatial distributions of the organic materials within the shale matrix.

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Abbreviations

K α :

Langmuir constant of each component

K n :

Knudsen number

K e :

Effective fluid conductivity

K ij :

Fluid conductivity through pore throat ij

M :

Gas molar mass

N A :

Avogadro constant

R :

Ideal gas constant

r e :

Effective radius of pore body

r ij :

Radius of throat ij

S pore :

Surface area of pore body

T :

Temperature

V :

Volume of pore body

Z :

Compressibility factor

μ :

Bulk gas viscosity

ρ b :

Bulk free gas density

ρ ads :

Adsorbed gas density

\(\rho^{\alpha , {{\rm max}} }\) :

Maximum adsorbed gas density

\(\rho_{i}^{{\alpha , {\text{ads}}}}\) :

Adsorbed gas density of each component in pore i

\(\rho_{\text{e}}^{{\alpha , {\text{ads}}}}\) :

Excess adsorption density of each component

\(\omega^{\alpha }\) :

Bulk free gas mass fraction of each component

\(\omega^{{\alpha , {\text{ads}}}}\) :

Adsorbed free gas mass fraction of each component

\(\bar{\lambda }\) :

Mean free path of gas molecule

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Dr. Xinwo Huang and Mr. Ryan W.J. Edwards for their invaluable suggestions and help to this investigation. The authors would like to acknowledge the financial supports from National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 51979144, 51323014, 41372352), Tsinghua University (T20161080101), and the State Key Laboratory of Hydro-Science and Engineering (SKLHSE-2020-D-07, SKLHSE-2016-D-03).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Hydro-Science and Engineering, Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Pengwei Zhang & Liming Hu

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA

    Pengwei Zhang, Michael A. Celia & Karl W. Bandilla

  3. Department of Geotechnical Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, 100044, China

    Pengwei Zhang

  4. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA

    Jay N. Meegoda

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  1. Pengwei Zhang
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Correspondence to Liming Hu.

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Zhang, P., Celia, M.A., Bandilla, K.W. et al. A Pore-Network Simulation Model of Dynamic CO2 Migration in Organic-Rich Shale Formations. Transp Porous Med 133, 479–496 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-020-01434-9

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