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Lattice-Boltzmann simulation of microscale CH4 flow in porous rock subject to force-induced deformation

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  • Energy Sources
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Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

Accurate knowledge of the influence of rock deformation on the permeability of fluid flow is of great significance to a variety of engineering applications, such as simultaneous extraction of coal and gas, oil/gas exploitation, CO2 geological sequestration, and underground water conservation. Based on the CT representation of pore structures of sandstones, a LBM (Lattice Boltzmann Method) for simulating CH4 flow in pore spaces at microscale levels and a parallel LBM algorithm for large-size porous models are developed in this paper. The properties of CH4 flow in porous sandstones and the effects of pore structure are investigated using LBM. The simulation is validated by comparing the results with the measured data. In addition, we incorporate LBM and FEM to probe the deformation of microstructures due to applied triaxial forces and its influence on the properties of CH4 flow. It is shown that the proposed method is capable of visually and quantitatively describing the characteristics of microstructure, spatial distribution of flow velocity of CH4, permeability, and the influences of deformation of pore spaces on these quantities as well. It is shown that there is a good consistency between LBM simulation and experimental measurement in terms of the permeability of sandstone with various porosities.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (51125017), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51374213), and the National Basic Research Program of China (2010CB226804, 2011CB201201).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Geomechanics and Deep Underground Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Yang Ju & Feng Gao

  2. State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, China University of Mining and Technology at Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China

    Yang Ju

  3. School of Mechanics and Civil Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology at Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China

    Jinbo Wang

  4. College of Hydraulic and Hydroelectric Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Heping Xie

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  1. Yang Ju
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  2. Jinbo Wang
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  3. Feng Gao
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  4. Heping Xie
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Correspondence to Yang Ju.

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Ju, Y., Wang, J., Gao, F. et al. Lattice-Boltzmann simulation of microscale CH4 flow in porous rock subject to force-induced deformation. Chin. Sci. Bull. 59, 3292–3303 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0465-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0465-5

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