MULTISCALE MODELING OF GAS

TRANSPORT AND STORAGE IN

SHALE RESOURCES
Ali Takbiri-Borujeni
12/02/2014

WHAT TO EXPECT

An introduction to gas
transport modeling
techniques and their
complexities at different
scales.
http://geologycafe.com/stories/frackin.html
2

DIFFERENT SCALES IN SHALE GAS RECOVERY

1

1- Ruppel and Loucks (2008)

FLOW REGIME CHARACTERIZATION

Gas flow regimes are characterized by
the Knudsen number (Kn). Flow regimes
are1:

continuum flow (0 < Kn < 103)

slip flow (103 < Kn < 101)

transition flow (101 < Kn < 10)

free molecular flow (10 < Kn < )
In organic nanopores in shale, Knudsen number is larger than 0.1 2.
1- Roy, S., R. Raju, H. F. Chuang, B. A. Cruden, and M. Meyyappan (2003). Modeling gas flow through microchannels and nanopores. Journal of applied physics 93 (8)
2- Kang, S. M., E. Fathi, R. J. Ambrose, I. Y. Akkutlu, R. F. Sigal, et al. (2011). Carbon dioxide storage capacity of organic-rich shales. Spe Journal 16 (4), 842-855

ORGANIC MATTER (KEROGEN)

Knudsen number is larger than 0.1.
Slip or transition flow regimes

Organic-rich shale are suitable for

gas adsorption due to their large
surface areas.
Cause new transport effects, such as
pore-diffusion and surface-diffusion
effects
Ruppel and Loucks (2008)
5

EXAMPLE: REDUCED-ORDER BOLTZMANN EQUATION

Regularized 13-moment (R13)

method:
a set of 13 differential equations are
derived from the moments of Boltzmann
equation
solutions to these equations provide
fluid flow equations for Kn 1

BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
Three types of gas-surface interactions1:
Specular reflection
tangential velocity of the molecule remains constant
normal velocity component changes its sign

Trapping
molecules lose their translational energy as they
collide with the surface
molecules will stay on the surface (few picoseconds)

Sticking
molecules hit the surface, lose their energy
they stay on the surface for a reasonable amount of
time (few nanoseconds)

1- Masel, R. I. (1996). Principles of adsorption and reaction on solid surfaces, Volume 3. John Wiley & Sons.

SORPTION MODELING
Gas sorption capacity is
defined by volume and
pressure isotherms.
Langmuir model suggests
the development of a single
molecular layer of
adsorption.
Myong, R. S. (2004). Gaseous slip models based on the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Physics of Fluids, 16(1), 104.

Langmuir isotherm

VELOCITY PROFILES FOR DIFFERENT KNUDSEN

NUMBERS
Assumptions:
Specular and diffusive
reflections

Slip velocity increases as

Knudsen number increases
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MODEL RESULTS FOR PERMEABILITY

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PERMEABILITY IN SLIP REGIME

Kd vs. inverse of mean pressure for Argon at T = 338K for

different channel widths

Kd vs. inverse of the mean pressure for Argon and Helium at T=

338K for channel widths of 10 and 100 nm
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IMPACT OF TEMPERATURE ON APPARENT

PERMEABILITY

Kd vs. channel width for different temperatures at constant

pressure of 0.28 MPa for Argon.
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CORE PLUG SCALE

A multiscale medium consisting
of inorganic matrix and organic
matter (kerogen).
Inorganic pores are dominantly
slit-like in shape or
microfracture and therefore
they are stress-sensitive.

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CORE PLUG SCALE

Intrinsic permeability for
conventional reservoir simulators:
a property of porous media
independent of the fluid type

Due to existence of nanoscale

pores in Shale, permeability is:
sensitive to effective stress, pore pressure,
temperature, and the fluid type.

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EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENT
Unsteady state methods such as GRI
and pressure pulse decay are faster
and can measure permeability as
low as 1 nD
Steady-state permeability
measurements
Comparison of crushed rock permeability from different
laboratories1

1- Passey, Q. R., Bohacs, K., Esch, W. L., Klimentidis, R., & Sinha, S. (2010, January 1). From Oil-Prone Source Rock to Gas-Producing Shale Reservoir - Geologic
and Petrophysical Characterization of Unconventional Shale Gas Reservoirs. Society of Petroleum Engineers.

15

PERMEABILITY MEASUREMENT

laboratory measured apparent permeability, if

conducted in low pressure and temperatures,
need to be extrapolated to reservoir conditions.

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EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS-STEADY STATE

A new steady-state
permeability
measurement
technique

Permeability measurement using steady-state method1

1- Zamirian, M., Aminian, K. K., Fathi, E., & Ameri, S. (2014, October 21). A Fast and Robust Technique for Accurate Measurement of the Organic-rich Shales Characteristics under Steady-State
Conditions. Society of Petroleum Engineers. doi:10.2118/171018-MS

17

CYLINDRICAL BUNDLE
For a known pore size
distribution, permeability of the
core can be calculated from:

/T: porosity-tortuosity ratio

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EXAMPLE

Pore-size distribution obtained by Nitrogen adsorption method

at 77K1.
1- Zamirian, M., Aminian, K. K., Fathi, E., & Ameri, S. (2014, October 21). A Fast and Robust Technique for Accurate Measurement of the Organic-rich Shales Characteristics under
Steady-State Conditions. Society of Petroleum Engineers. doi:10.2118/171018-MS

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MULTICONTINUUM APPROACH
The governing equations are based
on the principle of conservation of
mass.
Fluid transport and storage of each
continuum can be governed by
different physics.
Spatial coordinates of each
continuum are not explicitly defined.
Organic pores inorganic pores fractures

Multicontinuum approach for shale gas transport1

1- Akkutlu, I.Y., and Fathi, E. (2012). Multiscale gas transport in shales with local Kerogen heterogeneities. SPE Journal, Volume 17, Number 4.
2- Azom, P. N. and Javadpour, F. (2012, January 1). Dual-Continuum Modeling of Shale and Tight Gas Reservoirs. Society of Petroleum Engineers. doi:10.2118/159584-MS

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FLOW IN FRACTURED POROUS MEDIA

Fluid transport is governed by Darcy
equation.

Different measurement techniques

exist:
Flow experiments
Correlations
Numerical techniques

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IMAGE-BASED NUMERICAL MODELING

SEM image of the rock

Constructed 3D gray scale image

Flow simulation results

Chukwudozie C. Pore-scale lattice Boltzmann simulations of inertial flows in realistic porous media: a first principle analysis of the Forchheimer relationship. Masters thesis, Louisiana
State University; 2011.

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FLOW IN PROPPED FRACTURES

Takbiri Borujeni, A. (2013). Multi-scale modeling of inertial flows through propped fractures. PhD dissertation, Louisiana State University.

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RESERVOIR SIMULATION

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INERTIAL FLOWS AT PROPPANT-RESERVOIR INTERFACE

Inertial flows can not be upscaled

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DISCRETE MODELS

In discrete models,
fractures are discretely
within the reservoir

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jpvandijk/TaskForceMajella#CITEREFvan_Dijk2002.2C_b

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MULTICONTINUUM APPROACH FOR FRACTURED

FORMATIONS

Principle of multicontinuum approach for fractured formations1

1- Dietrich, P., R. Helmig, M. Sauter, H. Htzl, J. Kngeter, and G. Teutsch (2005). Flow and Transport in Fractured Porous Media. Springer.

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CONCLUSION

Continuum assumptions are valid

Inertial flows come to the picture
Two modeling approaches: discrete and
multicontinuum

Klinkenberg equation might

not be sufficient to determine
permeability.
Apparent permeability is
stress-dependent.
Multicontinuum approaches
can be used.

Knudsen number is larger

than 0.1.
Continuum assumptions
are no longer valid.
Sorption and slippage
phenomena comes into
the picture.
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APPENDIX

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MOLECULAR DYNAMICS

Lennard-Jones Plot of Carbon, Methane, and CO21

1- Wilcox, Jennifer, Carbon Capture, Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London, 2012

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MODELING OF FLUID FLOW IN KEROGEN

Classical continuum-based gas
flow equations cannot be used1.
Modeling approaches:
Molecular Dynamics
Direct Simulation Monte Carlo
Burnett equation
Reduced-order Boltzmann equations
Configuration of molecules and channel in molecular
dynamic simulator.

Javadpour, F. 2009. Nanopores and Apparent Permeability of Gas Flow in Mudrocks (Shales and Siltstone). J. Cdn. Pet. Tech. 48 (8): 1621.

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The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)

pore size classifications

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BOLTZMANN EQUATION

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IMAGE-BASED PORE-SCALE MODELING

Berea Core Sample

(Petroleum Cores)

Image from
XCT

Segmented Image

Pore-scale Flow Simulation

(Lattice Boltzmann)(Sukop et al., 2007)

Proppants
(CARBO Ceramics)

Reservoir Simulation

Impacts on productivity indices

Velocity field at the pore space