MULTIFRACTAL MODELING OF GAS-WATER RELATIVE PERMEABILITY CONSIDERING MULTISCALE AND MULTIEFFECTS: INVESTIGATION OF UNCONVENTIONAL GAS DEVELOPMENT

Unconventional gas is a momentous energy source due to its considerable reserves and eco-friendly properties, where relative permeability is a key evaluative parameter of unconventional gas extraction. However, the geo-complexity, multiscale and multieffect of the unconventional gas reservoir challenge the relative permeability evaluation and production enhancement. Here, we establish a gas-water flow model by integrating multifractal theory, covering from nanoscale to macroscale and regarding the effects of slip, gas desorption-diffusion and water film separation, to reliably evaluate the relative permeability evolution during unconventional gas development. Based on our model, we describe the permeability of the unconventional reservoir with an 88% less evaluation error compared to the single fractal Darcy with the literature benchmark. Moreover, we characterize the gas-water relative permeability with a no more than 10% evaluation error based on the experimental data. The slip effect plays the most crucial role in the evaluation precision of relative permeability. We reveal that the permeability of the unconventional gas reservoir is decreased by the increase of generalized fractal dimension which enhances the heterogeneity and tortuosity of pores. We uncover that the slip effect facilitates the relative permeability of gas and water. Besides, the gas desorption-diffusion boosts gas relative permeability while limiting water relative permeability, whereas water film separation enhances water relative permeability but hinders gas relative permeability. This work brings insights into the precise description of multiscale and multieffect gas-water porous flow in unconventional gas development.

Automated summary

Unconventional gas is an important energy source with considerable reserves and eco-friendly properties. The evaluation of relative permeability is crucial for unconventional gas extraction, but the complexity and multieffect of unconventional gas reservoirs pose challenges. In this study, we develop a gas-water flow model integrating multifractal theory to accurately evaluate the relative permeability evolution during unconventional gas development.