Effective Approach with Extra Desorption Time to Estimate the Gas Content of Deep-Buried Coalbed Methane Reservoirs: A Case Study from the Panji Deep Area in Huainan Coalfield, China

In this study, 11 core coal samples were collected from deep-buried coalbed methane (CBM) reservoirs with burial depth intervals of 900-1500 m for gas estimation content by a direct method. In desorption experiments, the cumulative gas desorption data were recorded within 2 h in the field on the basis of the China National Standard method. For accuracy, two improved methods were proposed. The results show that the gas contents of deep-buried coal samples based on the China National Standard and mud methods are 3.58-9.89 m(3)/t (average of 6.03 m(3)/t) and 3.74-10.05 m(3)/t (average of 6.20 m(3)/t), respectively. The proposed Langmuir equation and logarithmic equation methods exhibited nonlinear relationships between the cumulative desorption volume and desorption time, which yield values of 6.33-13.34 m(3)/t (average of 9.36 m(3)/t) and 6.15-13.86 m(3)/t (average of 10.37 m(3)/t), respectively. In addition, the two proposed methods combine the raw data within 2 h by the China National Standard method and additional desorption points during extra time, which are helpful for the ability of the hypothetical methods to calculate the gas content. The Langmuir equation method is a relatively more accurate method to estimate the gas content in comparison with the proposed logarithmic method, which is based on the relative error and comparison plots of actual data and simulated results. From the perspective of numerical value, the Langmuir equation method gives values 1.06-3.39 times (average of 1.86 times) those of the China National Standard method. These analyses show that the proposed Langmuir equation method with extra desorption points is an effective method to determine the gas content of deep-buried CBM reservoirs.

Automated summary

In this study, two improved methods were proposed to estimate the gas content of deep-buried coal samples, and the Langmuir equation method was found to be relatively accurate.