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Effect of Water Saturation on Pressure-Dependent Permeability of Carboniferous Shale of the Qaidam Basin, China

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Abstract

Permeability is the most important parameter that describes gas flow characteristics in shale. Water saturation and effective pressure have a considerable effect on shale permeability. This paper presents the results of a laboratory study of the effects of water saturation and effective pressure on gas permeability in Carboniferous shales of the Qaidam Basin, China. The permeability of shale samples with varying water saturation (0–33 wt%) was measured at effective pressure of 6.9 to 27.59 MPa and at low mean pore pressure (< 6.89 MPa) at room temperature, using a pressure pulse decay permeameter. The results indicate that the water saturation and the effective pressure are the main factors affecting the shale permeability. Permeability of sample C034, which has a high clay content and is dominated by nanoscale slit-shaped pores, shows a large decrease (up to 90%) with increasing water saturation (from 0 to 31.7 wt%), depending on the effective pressure. A much larger permeability reduction with increasing water saturation fraction is associated with the swelling of clay minerals. For each sample with varying water saturation, our analyses revealed a consistent line relationship between log permeability and effective pressure variation. The impact of effective pressure on the measured permeability becomes more significant as water saturation increases. With increasing water saturation, the gas slippage factor decreases and calculated effective pore size increases, and gas–water flow in the shale samples occurs as channel flow. This study provides practical information for further studies of stress-dependent permeability of shale with water and the gas slippage effect in two-phase, gas–water flow.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 40772208 and 41272387), and the China Geological Survey program (Nos. 20120113040000-3 and 1212011120964) is gratefully acknowledged. Our special thanks are extended to Professor E. Rutter, Editor Martin Julian Blunt, as well as one anonymous reviewer, for many critical and constructive comments.

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  1. Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang, 050061, People’s Republic of China

    Jun Gao

  2. School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 10083, People’s Republic of China

    Qingchun Yu

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  1. Jun Gao
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Gao, J., Yu, Q. Effect of Water Saturation on Pressure-Dependent Permeability of Carboniferous Shale of the Qaidam Basin, China. Transp Porous Med 123, 147–172 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-018-1029-y

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