[CCoE Notice] Petroleum Seminar: Multi-Resolution Characterization and Multi-Scale Simulation of Shale Oil/Gas Transport

[Grayson, Audrey A]

Multi-Resolution Characterization and Multi-Scale Simulation of Shale Oil/Gas Transport
Dongxiao Zhang
College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
MANDATORY SEMINAR for Petroleum PhD's and Master thesis seeking students- FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2017 IN ERP4 ROOM 110 AT 10 AM

Transport mechanism in the matrix of shale oil/gas reservoir is one of the most critical issues in the development of unconventional oil and gas resources, which has significant effects on the shale oil/gas production. It is also the theoretical basis of shale oil/gas resources assessment and long-term production prediction. However, as a complex issue of multi-scale and multi-physics process, a number of microscopic mechanisms are not yet well understood due to the limited precision and dimension of experiments. Therefore, it remains as a challenging topic.
In this work, we present an in-depth study of oil/gas transport mechanisms in shale matrix based on multi-resolution characterization and multi-scale simulation. Systematic investigations on marine and terrestrial shale samples are demonstrated. The multi-resolution characterization is carried out with different methods, including Micro-CT, FIB-SEM, HIM and SEM. The comprehensive analysis of pore network from nano-scale to core-scale in shale matrix is provided to overcome the limitations of the previous works. Dual-region model is introduced to describe the gas transport mechanisms in nanopores. Based on the multi-resolution characterization of pore network and the numerical model of nanoflow, a novel upscaling scheme is proposed for calculating the apparent permeability of shale particles and shale plug. Stochastic models, considering the organic, inorganic matter and macro-pores distribution, are constructed to calculate the apparent permeability distribution of shale particles. Shale plug models are constructed, the permeability of which is calculated with the embedded discrete fracture module (EDFM) of UNCONG, an unconventional oil and gas simulator developed by our group. The results indicate that the apparent permeability obtained from simulation are in the similar range with experiments. Some realistic industrial examples at the field scale are also presented. In the end, we will briefly discuss modeling and simulation of the hydraulic fracturing process.

[cid:745693F0-85B3-4E38-8DCE-BAD7A97D0ED3]DONGXIAO ZHANG
Dean, College of Engineering, Peking University
National Chair Professor, Department of Energy and Resources Engineering

Professor Zhang is a Member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of Geological Society of America. He had held positions as Chair Professor at the University of Southern California, Miller Chair Professor at the Department of Petroleum and Geological Engineering at the University of Oklahoma, and Senior Scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He has authored 2 books and published over 180 peer-reviewed papers. He earned both his Master’s degree and Ph.D. in hydrology and water resources in 1992 and 1993, respectively, from the University of Arizona. Professor Zhang is an internationally well-known expert in groundwater hydrology, unconventional oil and gas production, and geological carbon sequestration, whose research achievements in stochastic modeling, numerical simulation, and inverse modeling are widely adopted by his peers. Professor Zhang has been an associate editor for the following leading international journals: Water Resource Research, Advances in Water Resources, SIAM Multiscale Modeling and Simulation, Journal of Computational Geosciences, Vadose Zone Journal, and SPE Journal. He has served as a panelist on the RCUK Review of Energy, UK Research Councils, a member of US National Research Council’s Committee on New Research Opportunities in the Earth Sciences, a council member of World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on New Energy Architecture, and an elected member of board of trustees at Western Academy of Beijing.

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