Influence of gas transport mechanisms on the productivity of multi-stage fractured horizontal wells in shale gas reservoirs

In order to investigate the influence on shale gas well productivity caused by gas transport in nanometer-size pores, a mathematical model of multi-stage fractured horizontal wells in shale gas reservoirs is built, which considers the influence of viscous flow, Knudsen diffusion, surface diffusion, and adsorption layer thickness. A discrete-fracture model is used to simplify the fracture modeling, and a finite element method is applied to solve the model. The numerical simulation results indicate that with a decrease in the intrinsic matrix permeability, Knudsen diffusion and surface diffusion contributions to production become large and cannot be ignored. The existence of an adsorption layer on the nanopore surfaces reduces the effective pore radius and the effective porosity, resulting in low production from fractured horizontal wells. With a decrease in the pore radius, considering the adsorption layer, the production reduction rate increases. When the pore radius is less than 10 nm, because of the combined impacts of Knudsen diffusion, surface diffusion, and adsorption layers, the production of multi-stage fractured horizontal wells increases with a decrease in the pore pressure. When the pore pressure is lower than 30 MPa, the rate of production increase becomes larger with a decrease in pore pressure.