An efficient numerical simulation of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical processes in deep shale gas reservoirs

Abstract

Shale gas is an important unconventional natural gas resource, and it is an important target of exploration and development in recent years. Deep shale gas reservoirs are high-temperature, high-pressure, and high-stress with complex gas–water relationships, and its occurrence and flow mechanisms are still unclear, making the simulation of deep shale gas reservoirs still a challenging problem. Aiming at the key problems faced in the development of deep shale gas reservoirs, this paper establishes a flow-stress-temperature field coupled mathematical model and numerical model, studies the thermo-hydro-mechanical sequential decoupling method to solve the coupled mathematical model, and forms a multi-field coupled simulation technology which provides theoretical support for the development of deep shale gas. Based on the thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling calculation module, this paper conducts research on the influence of thermo-hydro-mechanical multi-field coupling parameters on the production and development performance, and it further verifies the practicability of our proposed model in real reservoirs.