Determination of Coal Permeability Using Pressure Transient Methods
- West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
Coalbed methane is a significant natural resource in the Appalachian region. It is believed that coalbed methane production can be enhanced by injection of carbon dioxide into coalbeds. However, the influence of carbon dioxide injection on coal permeability is not yet well understood. Competitive sorption of carbon dioxide and methane gases onto coal is a known process. Laboratory experiments and limited field experience indicate that coal will swell during sorption of a gas and shrink during desorption of a gas. The swelling and shrinkage may change the permeability of the coal. In this study, the permeability of coal was determined by using carbon dioxide as the flowing fluid. Coal samples with different dimensions were prepared for laboratory permeability tests. Carbon dioxide was injected into the coal and the permeability was determined by using pressure transient methods. The confining pressure was variedto cover a wide range of depths. The permeability was also determined as a function of exposure time of carbon dioxide while the confining stress was kept constant. CT scans were taken before and after the introduction of carbon dioxide. Results show that the porosity and permeability of the coal matrix was very low. The paper presents experimental data and theoretical aspects of the flow of carbon dioxide through a coal sample during pressure transient tests. The suitability of the pressure transient methods for determining permeability of coal during carbon dioxide injection is discussed in the paper.
- Research Organization:
- National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV, and Albany, OR (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE - Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- None cited
- OSTI ID:
- 915427
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/NETL-IR-2007-143; TRN: US200817%%511
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Sixth Annual Conference on Carbon Capture & Sequestration, Pittsburgh, PA, May 7-10, 2007; Related Information: Only publication is the attached poster
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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