Experimental investigation of water-gas mixed seepage parameters characteristics in broken coal medium

Abstract

In order to study the mixed permeability characteristics of broken coal medium, the parameter changes during water-gas permeation are analyzed and discussed in this study. It includes the law of two-phase flow state transformation, the law of permeability evolution and the principle of effective stress action. Firstly, the water-gas mixed permeation test system was designed by independent design. Then the gas and liquid two-phase permeation parameters were measured in real time by using multiple sets of sensors. The results are as follows: In one hand, the two-phase seepage process in broken coal medium, the seepage apparent Reynolds number is mainly distributed between 1230–2207. The difference of two orders of magnitude between the kinematic viscosities of the two fluids leads to an asynchronous transition process between the liquid and gas phase flow regimes. On the other hand, there is a competitive relationship between the relative permeability ratio of water and gas phases. When the proportion of gas phase relative permeability is distributed in the interval 71.7%–85.1%, the proportion of gas phase relative permeability is dominant, and it is most sensitive to the influence of the compaction deformation process of the initial pore structure. At the same time, the permeability k decreases with the increase of the effective stress σov in all three stages of the compaction deformation of the skeleton of the broken coal medium, in accordance with the relationship: σov=0.678/k+0.608. The effective stress will directly determine the pore deformation process of the structure of the broken coal medium.