An Apparent Gas Permeability Model for Real Gas Flow in Fractured Porous Media with Roughened Surfaces

Polymers (Basel). 2021 Jun 10;13(12):1937. doi: 10.3390/polym13121937.

Abstract

The investigation of gas transport in fractured porous media is essential in most petroleum and chemical engineering. In this paper, an apparent gas permeability model for real gas flow in fractured porous media is derived with adequate consideration of real gas effect, the roughness of fracture surface, and Knudsen diffusion based on the fractal theory. The fractal apparent gas permeability model is obtained to be a function of micro-structural parameters of fractured porous media, relative roughness, the pressure, the temperature, and the properties of gas. The predictions from the apparent gas permeability model based on the fractal theory match well with the published permeability model and experimental data, which verifies the rationality of the present fractal apparent gas permeability model.

Keywords: apparent gas permeability; fractal theory; fractured porous media; roughened surfaces.