2014/10/08 by Li Chen, Lei Zhang, Qinjun Kang +4 · 327 citations
Chemistry · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Chemistry #Computer science #Geology #Hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir analysis #Lattice Boltzmann Simulation Studies #Lattice Boltzmann methods #Materials science #Mechanics #Membrane #NMR spectroscopy and applications #Nanoscopic scale #Nanotechnology #Oil shale #Permeability (electromagnetism) #Physics #Statistical physics #Thermal diffusivity #Thermodynamics #physics.flu-dyn
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/srep08089
published in Scientific Reports 5(1), 8089 (Nature Portfolio) · arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1410.1921
arxiv created 2014/10/08 · openalex publication_date 2015/01/28 · arxiv updated 2015/04/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Porous structures of shales are reconstructed using the markov chain monte carlo (MCMC) method based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of shale samples from Sichuan Basin, China. Characterization analysis of the reconstructed shales is performed, including porosity, pore size distribution, specific surface area and pore connectivity. The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is adopted to simulate fluid flow and Knudsen diffusion within the reconstructed shales. Simulation results reveal that the tortuosity of the shales is much higher than that commonly employed in the Bruggeman equation, and such high tortuosity leads to extremely low intrinsic permeability. Correction of the intrinsic permeability is performed based on the dusty gas model (DGM) by considering the contribution of Knudsen diffusion to the total flow flux, resulting in apparent permeability. The correction factor over a range of Knudsen number and pressure is estimated and compared with empirical correlations in the literature. For the wide pressure range investigated, the correction factor is always greater than 1, indicating Knudsen diffusion always plays a role on shale gas transport mechanisms in the reconstructed shales. Specifically, we found that most of the values of correction factor fall in the slip and transition regime, with no Darcy flow regime observed.