Improved modelling of pressure-dependent permeability behaviour in coal based on a new workflow of petrophysics, hydraulic fracturing and reservoir simulation
Honja Miharisoa Ramanandraibe A , Ayrton Soares Ribeiro B , Raymond JohnsonA School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia.
B Centre for Natural Gas, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: z.you@uq.edu.au
The APPEA Journal 61(1) 106-117 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ20157
Submitted: 3 January 2021 Accepted: 12 February 2021 Published: 2 July 2021
Abstract
Many coal seam gas (CSG) reservoirs (also known as coalbed methane) can have low permeability, require stimulation to produce economic rates and often exhibit pressure-dependent permeability (PDP) behaviour. Defining PDP behaviour in coal using reservoir simulation is a non-unique problem based on the uncertainty in coal properties and input parameters. Recent research demonstrated that an integrated analysis coupling of a diagnostic fracture injection test analysis, hydraulic fracture modelling and reservoir simulation can better characterise PDP behaviour in order to evaluate stimulation effectiveness in coals (Johnson et al. 2020). The present work aims to improve the recently developed model by including multilayer and permeability anisotropy effects. A reservoir model with multiple coal layers is established in a pressure-dependent reservoir simulator, based on the image log interpretations. Permeability anisotropy in the formation is realised by introducing heterogeneous distribution of permeability in different directions. Modelling results indicate effects of aspect ratio between multilayers on the pressure distribution and production history. A lower permeability anisotropy ratio yields better well productivity, and higher stimulation is required to increase the stimulated reservoir volume to maximise gas recovery. The improved model and workflow are applicable to other CSG fields for defining key variables where hydraulic fracturing performance has been unable to overcome limitations based on pressure dependency, often accompanied by low-permeability behaviour. This workflow has applications in Australia and many areas (e.g. China and India) exhibiting low-permeability and PDP behaviour and where only typically collected field data is available.
Keywords: coal seam gas (CSG), coalbed methane (CBM), pressure-dependent permeability (PDP), diagnostic fracture injection test (DFIT), reservoir simulation, permeability anisotropy, multilayer reservoir, estimated ultimate recovery (EUR), production enhancement, hydraulic fracture stimulation, Walloon Coal Measures, Surat Basin, Australia.
Honja Miharisoa Ramanandraibe is a Masters student in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Queensland, School of Chemical Engineering. She holds a BEng in Petroleum Engineering and a BEng in Land Surveying from the School of Engineering, École Supérieure Polytechnique d’Antananarivo, Madagascar. Her general research interests focus on enhanced oil recovery (EOR), reservoir modelling and characterisation and unconventional resources. |
Ayrton Soares Ribeiro is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The University of Queensland Centre for Natural Gas. Ayrton’s research interests include reservoir simulation, reactive transport (dissolution of minerals), CO2 EOR and storage, and multiphase flow in fractured media. Ayrton completed his PhD in Petroleum Engineering (dual degree between Heriot-Watt University and Universidade Federal de Pernambuco. His research topic was ‘Modelling of geochemical reactions during CO2 WAG injection on carbonate reservoirs’. |
Raymond (Ray) L. Johnson, Jr. is presently the Professor of Well Engineering and Production Technology at the University of Queensland, School of Chemical Engineering, and serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide. He has a PhD in mining engineering, a MSc in petroleum engineering, a Graduate Diploma in Information Technology, and a BA in Chemistry. Ray has been active in the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), past Chair of the SPE Queensland Section, 2013 and 2015 Co-chair of the SPE Unconventional Reservoir Conference and Exhibition Asia Pacific, and Technical Award Recipient of SPE Regional Awards in 2011 and 2017. He has been actively involved as an author and researcher in the areas of reservoir geomechanics, hydraulic fracture design execution and evaluation, and unconventional resource development. |
Zhenjiang You is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of Queensland. His research interests include suspension/colloid/nanoparticle transport in porous media, enhanced oil and gas recovery, fines migration induced formation damage in oil/gas/geothermal reservoirs, and EOR from low-salinity waterflooding. Dr. You received his BEng degree in Engineering Mechanics and PhD degree in Fluid Mechanics, both from Zhejiang University. He is the author of three book chapters and over 100 papers published in international journals and conferences. |
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