Development of a ‘Quad Porosity’ Numerical Flow Model for Shale Gas Reservoirs

Date
2013-01-25
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Abstract
Shale gas production modeled with conventional simulators/models is often lower than actually observed field data, even when the effect of hydraulic fractures is taken into account. This is currently being explained by the development of secondary fracturing (the stimulated reservoir volume). While such geomechanical effects are often dominant, it is likely that other factors also contribute to the observed productivity, and these need to be quantified in order to understand the relative importance of all mechanisms. This work addresses one of these factors, namely the complexity of fluid flow physics in nanopore-size porous media. Traditionally, it has been perceived that in shale gas reservoirs gas is stored only in pore space (matrix pores and natural fractures) and adsorbed on pore surfaces. But with recent development in the visualization and measurement techniques, additional gas has been found dissolved in organic matter. In this work, a numerical model for complex ‘quad porosity’ system in shale reservoirs is proposed while also accounting for non-Darcy flow in shale nanopores. We begin with a theoretical model for gas flow inside one shale nanopore and upscale it to laboratory sample scale. Consequently, this model can be incorporated in a commercial reservoir simulator to simulate the flow behavior of shale gas reservoirs with higher confidence. This will help to improve reservoir modeling for shales and correctly predicting the gas in place and recovery.
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Keywords
Engineering--Petroleum
Citation
Swami, V. (2013). Development of a ‘Quad Porosity’ Numerical Flow Model for Shale Gas Reservoirs (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25670