Influences of adsorption/desorption of shale gas on the apparent properties of matrix pores

Abstract

The adsorption/desorption effects impact the petro-physical properties of matrix pores during gas depressurizing production, such as effective pore radius, effective porosity, apparent permeability, which will further impact the gas flow regime. In this paper, the dynamic models of effective pore radius and apparent permeability under the action of gas adsorption/desorption are derived. The mathematical model of shale gas flow is established considering the effects of adsorbed gas on apparent properties and gas flow regime. After that, the model is solved and validated using a finite volume method and experimental and field data. Finally, the variations of apparent parameters of matrix pores and gas flow regimes during gas production, and the influences of adsorption on gas production are demonstrated. The results show that the effective pore radius, porosity and apparent permeability increase during gas production; the gas flow regime in stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) changes from slip flow to transition flow; if the impacts of adsorbed gas on gas production is overlooked, both original gas in place (OGIP) and gas production will be significantly overestimated. The cumulative gas production changes slightly as the adsorption layer thickness increases, but the gas recovery factor decreases.