Comprehensive Analysis of Connectivity and Permeability of a Pore-Fracture Structure in Low Permeability Seam of Huainan-Huaibei Coalfield

Zhangfei Wang; Huihuang Fang; Shuxun Sang; Jinran Guo; Shua Yu; Huihu Liu; Hongjie Xu

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c10247

Comprehensive Analysis of Connectivity and Permeability of a Pore-Fracture Structure in Low Permeability Seam of Huainan-Huaibei Coalfield

ACS Omega. 2024 Mar 20;9(13):15357-15371. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c10247. eCollection 2024 Apr 2.

Authors

Zhangfei Wang^{1

2}, Huihuang Fang^{1

2

3}, Shuxun Sang^{4

5

6}, Jinran Guo^{1

2}, Shua Yu^{1

2}, Huihu Liu^{1

2}, Hongjie Xu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Earth and Environment, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, Anhui 232001, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Mining Response and Disaster Prevention and Control in Deep Coal Mines, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, Anhui 232001, China.
³ Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada.
⁴ Carbon Neutrality Institute, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221008, China.
⁵ School of Resources and Geosciences, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China.
⁶ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Coal-Based Greenhouse Gas Control and Utilization, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221008, China.

Abstract

The connectivity and permeability of the coal seam pore structures control the occurrence and migration of coalbed methane. Coal samples were used from Huainan-Huaibei to reconstruct three-dimensional models of the pores and an equivalent pore network model, Statistical pore structure characteristic parameters. The pore structure of the coal reservoir was analyzed from the direction of multidimensional and multiangle. It shows that based on quantitative analysis, the representative Elementary volume of 500 × 500 × 500 was the most suitable experimental volume. The Y-axis direction of the Renlou sample had poor pore connectivity compared to that of other samples. Large volume connected pores dominated their pore systems. In terms of coal sample pore connectivity, the coal samples from the Liuzhuang and Qidong regions had pore connectivity better than those from the other regions. The pore connectivity of the Liuzhuang coal samples was the best. In terms of coal permeability, the Liuzhuang sample had better permeability than the other three samples, and the permeability was the best in the Y-axis direction. For all the combinations of the different types of throats, the shorter the throat, the greater the equivalent radius and the better the permeability. Conversely, the worse the permeability. During gas injection production, the closer the gas injection area was to the gas injection well, the poorer the connectivity and the lower the permeability over time. Near the production area, where the CO₂ did not reach the production area, the fracture porosity and effective connected porosity of the coal reservoir increased over time. When CO₂ reached the production area, the change in its connected pore structure was consistent with the change in the connected pores in the gas injection area. With this study, the coal seam pore structure on a microscale was characterized. A comprehensive analysis of the coal reservoir pore connectivity and permeability was completed. The study results are significant for the exploration and development of coalbed methane in the Huainan-Huaibei coalfield.