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Micro-Cleat and Permeability Evolution of Anisotropic Coal During Directional CO2 Flooding: An In Situ Micro-CT Study

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Abstract

Cleat and permeability altered by CO2 injection are key issues for enhanced coalbed methane production and CO2 geo-sequestration into unminable coal seams. As the main channel for CO2 flowing through, pre-existing macro- and micro-cleats in coal directly determine permeability. Both permeability and cleats are pressure-dependent. However, few researches have been made to observe directly changes in micro-cleats as a function of injection pressure during CO2 flooding. In this study, using a novel in situ micro-CT core flooding apparatus, we observed the gradual closure of micro-cleats in small anthracite coal at CO2 injection pressures from 1 to 4 MPa. Quantitative micro- aperture size variations were analyzed further. An increasing-then-decreasing trend of the mean aperture size of the micro-cleat with increasing injection pressures was obtained, and the rebound in mean micro-cleat aperture size measured parallel to cleat directions was higher than that perpendicular to bedding plane direction. The permeability decreased drastically first and then slowly with increase in saturation time. Relatively weak coal permeability anisotropy (< 50%) was observed in this test and the permeability measured in the bedding plane direction was not necessarily smaller than that in the cleat directions for a small coal body.

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Notes

  1. * 1 mD = 0.987 × 10–15 m.2.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52104231, 51804211) the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China (2020M681775), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2021QN1088), and Shanxi Province Science Foundation for Youths (201901D211037). The CT scanning was performed using the micro-CT apparatus of the National Geo-sequestration Laboratory (NGL) of Australia. Funding for the facilities was provided by the Australian Federal Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Safety Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, Jiangsu, China

    Yubing Liu & Enyuan Wang

  2. Key Laboratory of Gas and Fire Control for Coal Mines, Ministry of Education, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, Jiangsu, China

    Yubing Liu & Enyuan Wang

  3. WA School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering, Curtin University, 26 Dick Perry Avenue, Kensington, 6151, Australia

    Maxim Lebedev, Jiabin Liang & Runhua Feng

  4. Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2BP, UK

    Yihuai Zhang

  5. School of Safety and Emergency Management Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030024, Shanxi, China

    Wenpu Li

  6. School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 211100, China

    Rupeng Ma

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  1. Yubing Liu
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  2. Maxim Lebedev
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Liu, Y., Lebedev, M., Zhang, Y. et al. Micro-Cleat and Permeability Evolution of Anisotropic Coal During Directional CO2 Flooding: An In Situ Micro-CT Study. Nat Resour Res 31, 2805–2818 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11053-022-10102-2

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