Experimental Investigation of the Dependence of Accessible Porosity and Methane Sorption Capacity of Carbonaceous Shales on Particle Size
Autor: | A. G. Kalmykov, Bernhard M. Krooss, Garri Gaus, Reinhard Fink |
---|---|
Rok vydání: | 2020 |
Předmět: |
QE1-996.5
Materials science Article Subject 0211 other engineering and technologies Mineralogy Geology Sorption 02 engineering and technology 010502 geochemistry & geophysics 01 natural sciences Methane chemistry.chemical_compound Kimmeridge Clay chemistry Gas pycnometer General Earth and Planetary Sciences Particle 021108 energy Particle size Porosity Oil shale 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
Zdroj: | Geofluids, Vol 2020 (2020) |
ISSN: | 1468-8123 1468-8115 |
Popis: | Crushing and grinding of carbonaceous shale samples is likely to enhance the accessibility of pores and embedded organic matter as compared to the intact rock. This may lead to an overestimation of the total (volume and sorptive) gas storage capacity. In order to investigate the importance of these effects we have measured unconfined apparent grain densities (helium pycnometry) and methane sorption capacities (high-pressure methane excess sorption) of four carbonaceous shales (Cambro-Ordovician Alum Shale, Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay, Jurassic/Cretaceous Bazhenov Shale, and Late Cretaceous Eagle Ford Shale) as a function of particle size. Measurements were first conducted on 38 mm diameter core plugs, which then were crushed and milled to successively smaller particle sizes (μm, and μm). Apparent grain densities of the smallest particle fractions of the Alum, Bazhenov and Kimmeridge samples were consistently higher by 0.5 to 1% than apparent grain densities of the original sample plugs. Methane excess sorption capacity increased significantly for particle sizes <64 μm for the Alum and μm for the Bazhenov and Kimmeridge samples while no significant changes upon grinding were observed for the Eagle Ford Shale. For the Bazhenov Shale, the apparent grain density increased slightly from 2.446 g/cm3 to 2.450 g/cm3 upon particle size reduction from μm to μm while the maximum sorption capacity (“Langmuir volume”) increased substantially from 0.11 mmol/g to 0.19 mmol/g. Similarly, for the Kimmeridge Clay and Alum Shale, a slight increase of the apparent grain density from 1.546 g/cm3 to 1.552 g/cm3 and from 2.362 g/cm3 to 2.385 g/cm3, respectively, was accompanied by increases in sorption capacity from 0.37 mmol/g to 0.45 mmol/g and from 0.14 mmol/g to 0.185 mmol/g, respectively. The increase in sorption capacity indicates an opening of a considerable amount of micropores with large internal surface area upon physical disruption of the rock fabric and/or removal of included fluids. It may also be due to increased swelling abilities of clay minerals and organic matter upon destruction of the stabilizing rock fabric with decreasing particle size. Grain density and sorption isotherms measured on small particle sizes are likely to overestimate the gas storage capacities and the amounts of producible gas-in-place since under field conditions (largely undisrupted rock fabric), significant portions of this storage capacity are essentially inaccessible. Poor interconnectivity of the pore system and slow, diffusion-controlled transport will massively retard gas production. Based on these findings, particle sizes >64 μm should be used for porosity and sorption measurements because they are more likely to retain the properties of the rock fabric in terms of accessible pore volume and sorptive storage capacity. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
Externí odkaz: | |
Nepřihlášeným uživatelům se plný text nezobrazuje | K zobrazení výsledku je třeba se přihlásit. |