Numerical modeling of the dynamic variation in multiphase CH₄ during CO₂ enhanced gas recovery from depleted shale reservoirs

Abstract

Regarding CO₂ enhanced shale gas recovery, this work focuses on changes in the multiphase (free/adsorbed) CH₄ in the process of CO₂ enhanced shale gas recovery, by utilizing a rigorous numerical model with real geological parameters. This work studies nine injection well (IW) and CH₄ production well (PW) combinations of CO₂ to determine the influence of IW and PW locations on the dynamic interaction of multiphase CH₄ during 10000 d of CO₂ injection. The results indicate that the content of both the adsorbed CH₄ and free CH₄ is strongly variable before (and during) the CO₂-CH₄ displacement. In addition, during the simulation process, the proportion of the adsorbed CH₄ among all extracted CH₄ phases dynamically increases first and then tends to stabilize at 70%–80%. Moreover, the IW-PWs combinations significantly affect the outcomes of CO₂ enhanced shale gas recovery – for both the proportion of adsorbed/free CH₄ and the recovery efficiency. A longer IW-PW distance enables more adsorbed CH₄ to be recovered but results in a lower efficiency of shale gas recovery. Basically, a shorter IW-PWs distance helps recover CH₄ via CO₂ injection if the IW targets the bottom layer of the Wufeng-Longmaxi shale formation. This numerical work expands the knowledge of CO₂ enhanced gas recovery from depleted shale reservoirs.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

CO₂-CH₄ displacement / free gas / Longmaxi shale / CH₄ desorption / numerical simulation

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the Project funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2020M683253), the Key Laboratory of Shale Gas Exploration, Ministry of Natural Resources (No. KLSGE-MLR-202003), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51704197).

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