skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Nanoscale simulation of shale transport properties using the lattice Boltzmann method: Permeability and diffusivity

Journal Article · · Scientific Reports
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/srep08089· OSTI ID:1259292
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [2];  [4]
  1. Xi'an Jiaotong Univ., Shaanxi (China); Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. China Univ. of Petroleum, Shandong (China)
  3. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  4. Xi'an Jiaotong Univ., Shaanxi (China)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Here, porous structures of shales are reconstructed using the markov chain monte carlo (MCMC) method based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of shale samples from Sichuan Basin, China. Characterization analysis of the reconstructed shales is performed, including porosity, pore size distribution, specific surface area and pore connectivity. The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is adopted to simulate fluid flow and Knudsen diffusion within the reconstructed shales. Simulation results reveal that the tortuosity of the shales is much higher than that commonly employed in the Bruggeman equation, and such high tortuosity leads to extremely low intrinsic permeability. Correction of the intrinsic permeability is performed based on the dusty gas model (DGM) by considering the contribution of Knudsen diffusion to the total flow flux, resulting in apparent permeability. The correction factor over a range of Knudsen number and pressure is estimated and compared with empirical correlations in the literature. We find that for the wide pressure range investigated, the correction factor is always greater than 1, indicating Knudsen diffusion always plays a role on shale gas transport mechanisms in the reconstructed shales. Specifically, we found that most of the values of correction factor fall in the slip and transition regime, with no Darcy flow regime observed.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Nature Science Foundation of China
Grant/Contract Number:
51406145; 51136004; 51320105004
OSTI ID:
1259292
Journal Information:
Scientific Reports, Vol. 5; ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 229 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (43)

Mudstone (“shale”) depositional and diagenetic processes: Implications for seismic analyses of source-rock reservoirs journal August 2013
Die Gesetze der Molekularströmung und der inneren Reibungsströmung der Gase durch Röhren journal January 1909
A Critical Review of the Risks to Water Resources from Unconventional Shale Gas Development and Hydraulic Fracturing in the United States journal March 2014
Pore-scale simulation of entrapped non-aqueous phase liquid dissolution journal March 2007
Knudsen’s Permeability Correction for Tight Porous Media journal September 2011
Fluid flow through granular beds journal December 1997
Report: a Model for Flows in Channels, Pipes, and Ducts at Micro and nano Scales journal February 1999
Nanometer-scale characterization of microscopic pores in shale kerogen by image analysis and pore-scale modeling: GEOMETRY AND TRANSPORT IN SHALE KEROGEN journal October 2013
Lattice Boltzmann method for gaseous microflows using kinetic theory boundary conditions journal May 2005
Pore Scale Simulation of Transport and Electrochemical Reactions in Reconstructed PEMFC Catalyst Layers journal January 2010
Adsorption measurements in Devonian shales journal April 1995
Nanoscale Gas Flow in Shale Gas Sediments journal October 2007
Nanopores and Apparent Permeability of Gas Flow in Mudrocks (Shales and Siltstone) journal August 2009
A Laboratory Study of Low-Permeability Gas Sands journal September 1980
Finite-Difference Approximation for Fluid-Flow Simulation and Calculation of Permeability in Porous Media journal June 2012
A Lattice Boltzmann Model for Simulating Gas Flow in Kerogen Pores journal October 2014
3D Stochastic Modelling of Heterogeneous Porous Media – Applications to Reservoir Rocks journal December 2006
Kerogen Density in the Marcellus Shale conference April 2013
Multiscale, Multiphysics Network Modeling of Shale Matrix Gas Flows journal June 2013
Lattice Boltzmann Method for Simulation of Shale Gas Transport in Kerogen journal November 2012
Pore-scale flow and mass transport in gas diffusion layer of proton exchange membrane fuel cell with interdigitated flow fields journal January 2012
Measurement of the specific surface of porous and disperse bodies by their resistance to the flow of rarafied gases journal January 1994
Knudsen Diffusion in Silicon Nanochannels journal February 2008
Pore-scale study of diffusion–reaction processes involving dissolution and precipitation using the lattice Boltzmann method journal August 2014
Gas Permeability of Shale journal August 2012
Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Shale Gas Transport in Organic Nano-Pores journal May 2014
Coupled numerical approach combining finite volume and lattice Boltzmann methods for multi-scale multi-physicochemical processes journal December 2013
An evaluation of lattice Boltzmann schemes for porous medium flow simulation journal September 2006
Effective Correlation of Apparent Gas Permeability in Tight Porous Media journal July 2009
Structural Characterization of Gas Shales on the Micro- and Nano-Scales
  • Curtis, Mark Erman; Ambrose, Raymond Joseph; Sondergeld, Carl H.
  • Canadian Unconventional Resources and International Petroleum Conference https://doi.org/10.2118/137693-MS
conference April 2013
Improved Permeability Prediction Relations for Low Permeability Sands conference April 2013
A critical review of the pseudopotential multiphase lattice Boltzmann model: Methods and applications journal September 2014
Lattice Boltzmann Method for Fluid Flows journal January 1998
Morphology, Genesis, and Distribution of Nanometer-Scale Pores in Siliceous Mudstones of the Mississippian Barnett Shale journal November 2009
An improved lattice Boltzmann model for multicomponent reactive transport in porous media at the pore scale: MULTICOMPONENT REACTIVE TRANSPORT journal November 2007
Gas flow in ultra-tight shale strata journal September 2012
Factors Affecting Gas Slippage in Tight Sandstones of Cretaceous Age in the Uinta Basin journal November 1982
An anisotropic pore-network model to estimate the shale gas permeability journal April 2021
Lattice Boltzmann Method for Simulation of Shale Gas Transport in Kerogen conference October 2011
Gas Permeability of Shale conference October 2011
Adsorption measurements in Devonian shales journal January 1995
Knudsen Diffusion in Silicon Nanochannels text January 2008
Molecular Effusion and Transpiration journal June 1909

Cited By (20)

Prediction of diffusive transport through polymer films from characteristics of the pore geometry journal October 2018
An Object-Based Shale Permeability Model: Non-Darcy Gas Flow, Sorption, and Surface Diffusion Effects journal January 2018
Pore Network Modeling of Shale Gas Reservoirs: Gas Desorption and Slip Flow Effects journal September 2018
Flow Mechanism and Simulation Approaches for Shale Gas Reservoirs: A Review journal September 2018
How Hydraulic Properties of Organic Matter Control Effective Liquid Permeability of Mudrocks journal June 2019
Deciphering pore-level precipitation mechanisms journal October 2017
Predicting Effective Diffusivity of Porous Media from Images by Deep Learning journal December 2019
Micro/Nano-pore Network Analysis of Gas Flow in Shale Matrix journal August 2015
Study of Gas Flow Characteristics in Tight Porous Media with a Microscale Lattice Boltzmann Model journal September 2016
Channel-width dependent pressure-driven flow characteristics of shale gas in nanopores journal April 2017
Features of photothermal transformation in porous silicon based multilayered structures journal July 2019
Study on the effects of natural gas hydrate cementation mode on the physical properties of rocks journal April 2018
Lattice Boltzmann simulation of the gas-solid adsorption process in reconstructed random porous media journal April 2016
Grayscale lattice Boltzmann model for multiphase heterogeneous flow through porous media journal June 2016
Using BIB-SEM Imaging for Permeability Prediction in Heterogeneous Shales journal January 2017
Applicability Analysis of Klinkenberg Slip Theory in the Measurement of Tight Core Permeability journal June 2019
Deciphering pore-level precipitation mechanisms text January 2017
Using BIB-SEM Imaging for Permeability Prediction in Heterogeneous Shales text January 2017
Predicting Effective Diffusivity of Porous Media from Images by Deep Learning preprint January 2019
Quantifying the anisotropy and tortuosity of permeable pathways in clay-rich mudstones using models based on X-ray tomography journal November 2017

Similar Records

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
applied physics
fluid dynamics