Breakthrough pressure of oil displacement by water through the ultra-narrow kerogen pore throat from the Young–Laplace equation and molecular dynamic simulations

Zhao, Yinuo; Li, Wenhui; Zhan, Shiyuan; Jin, Zhehui

doi:10.1039/d2cp01643e

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 91 publications

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“…In recent years, shale gas/oil has become a significant strategic resource for its huge reserves. , However, shale gas/oil is mainly stored in micronano pores of low porosity and permeability, − as shown in Figure a. Under extremely confined conditions, the interfacial interactions between gas/oil and matrix are dominant. − The validity of some classical flow theories has been questioned, ,, and it is urgent to develop new mechanisms and models at the nanoscale. , Generally, shale gas and oil are produced by the pyrolysis of kerogen in source rocks, going through four stages: the energy accumulation stage, the oil window stage, the gas window stage, and the steady stage . Then, they migrate through the micronano pores and larger fractures over short distances. , These pores can be categorized into three types: through pore, blind pore, and closed pore, as illustrated in Figure b.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5−8 The validity of some classical flow theories has been questioned, 4,9,10 and it is urgent to develop new mechanisms and models at the nanoscale. 11,12 Generally, shale gas and oil are produced by the pyrolysis of kerogen in source rocks, going through four stages: the energy accumulation stage, the oil window stage, the gas window stage, and the steady stage. 13 Then, they migrate through the micronano pores and larger fractures over short distances.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Molecular Understanding on Migration and Recovery of Shale Gas/Oil Mixture through a Pore Throat

Hong

et al. 2022

Energy Fuels

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Shale gas/oil remaining in blind pores accounts for a large proportion in total reserves, which is urgent to be further exploited. Understanding the microscopic mechanism of gas/oil extraction from blind pores is critical to enhanced gas/oil recovery. In this study, we investigated the migration and recovery behavior of shale gas/oil mixture through a pore throat connecting blind pores and microfractures. Our simulations show that some oil molecules tend to migrate in the form of clusters, which increases their effective size and causes possible blockage of the pore throat. The recovery ratio of gas/ oil mixture has a strong dependence on the pore size. Below the critical size, which is smaller than the size of oil clusters, the pore throat would be blocked and the recovery ratio will decrease significantly. The heavy fractions of shale oil suppress the extraction of gas/oil molecules from blind pores by four inhibition mechanisms: edge adsorption, surface adsorption, throat blockage, and liquid bridge. The kerogen pore shows a stronger adsorption ability for gas/oil mixture than quartz pore, resulting in more residues in it. We also found that a higher gas/oil ratio can provide a larger driven force, leading to a higher recovery of methane and light fractions. These findings advance the understanding of the recovery mechanisms of remaining gas/oil in blind pores and provide a practical guideline on shale gas/oil exploitation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular Understanding on Migration and Recovery of Shale Gas/Oil Mixture through a Pore Throat

Hong

et al. 2022

Energy Fuels

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“…The calculated upper limit of P c is about 23 MPa, much lower than the threshold pressure on the pushing piston. One reason for this large difference is attributed to the drastic reduction of height from the reservoir (4.5 H 0 ) to the channel ( H 0 ), which is also discussed in the literature . Moreover, the Young–Laplace equation is shown to significantly underpredict the breakthrough pressure in 1–10-nm-wide channels …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 83%

Insights into Waterflooding in Hydrocarbon-Bearing Nanochannels of Varying Cross Sections from Mesoscopic Multiphase Flow Simulations

Diermyer

Xia

2023

Langmuir

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Waterflooding is one of the geotechniques used to recover fuel sources from nanoporous geological formations. The scientific understanding of the process that involves the multiphase flow of nanoconfined fluids, however, has lagged, mainly due to the complex nanopore geometries and chemical compositions. To enable the benchmarked flow of nanoconfined fluids, architected geomaterials, such as synthesized mesoporous silica with tunable pore shapes and surface chemical properties, are used for designing and conducting experiments and simulations. This work uses a modified many-body dissipative particle dynamics (mDPD) model with accurately calibrated parameters to perform parametric flow simulations for studying the influences of waterflooding-driven power, pore shape, surface roughness, and surface wettability on the multiphase flow in heptane-saturated silica nanochannels. Remarkably, up to an 80% reduction in the effective permeability is found for water-driven heptane flow in a baseline 4.5-nm-wide slit channel when compared with the Hagen–Poiseuille equation. In the 4.5-nm-wide channels with architected surface roughness, the flow rate is found to be either higher or lower than the baseline case, depending on the shape and size of cross sections. High wettability of the solid surface by water is essential for achieving a high recovery of heptane, regardless of surface roughness. When the solid surface is less wetting or nonwetting to water, the existence of an optimal waterflooding-driven power is found to allow for the highest possible recovery. A detailed analysis of the evolution of the transient water–heptane interface in those nanochannels is presented to elucidate the underlying mechanisms that impact or dictate the multiphase flow behaviors.

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“…The bond lengths were constrained by the LINCS algorithm . The bulk density (density in the middle of the slit) of the fluid was calculated to identify the bulk phase pressure ,− according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) database; details are given in the Supporting Information (SI).…”

Section: Model and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Adsorption Behaviors of Different Components of Shale Oil in Quartz Slits Studied by Molecular Simulation

Xue

Cheng

et al. 2022

ACS Omega

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Understanding the adsorption state and molecular behavior of the diverse components of shale oil in shale slits is of critical importance for exploring novel enhanced shale oil recovery techniques, but it is hard to be achieved by experimental measurements. In this paper, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are performed to quantitatively describe the microbehavior of shale oil mixtures containing different kinds of hydrocarbon components, including asphaltene, in quartz slits. The spatial distributions of all the presenting components are given, the interaction energy between the components and quartz is analyzed, and the diffusion coefficients of all the components are calculated. It was found that asphaltene molecules play a vitally important role in restricting the detachment and diffusion movement of all hydrocarbon components, which is actually a key problem limiting the recovery efficiency of shale oil. The effects of temperature, slit aperture, and the appearance of CO2 on the adsorption behavior of the different shale oil components are examined; the results suggest that the light and medium components are the fractions with the most potential in thermal exploitation, while injection of CO2 is beneficial for the extraction of all the components, especially the medium components. This work gives insights into the effect of asphaltene on shale oil recovery in quartz slits and might provide guidance on the utilization of thermal and CO2-enhanced enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques in shale oil production.

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Breakthrough pressure of oil displacement by water through the ultra-narrow kerogen pore throat from the Young–Laplace equation and molecular dynamic simulations

Abstract: As one common unconventional reservoir, shale plays a pivotal role to compensate the depletion of conventional oil resources. There are numerous nanoscale pores and ultra-narrow pore throats (sub 2-nm) in...

Cited by 11 publications

References 91 publications

Molecular Understanding on Migration and Recovery of Shale Gas/Oil Mixture through a Pore Throat

Molecular Understanding on Migration and Recovery of Shale Gas/Oil Mixture through a Pore Throat

Insights into Waterflooding in Hydrocarbon-Bearing Nanochannels of Varying Cross Sections from Mesoscopic Multiphase Flow Simulations

Adsorption Behaviors of Different Components of Shale Oil in Quartz Slits Studied by Molecular Simulation

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