Owing to the heterogeneous geological conditions of unconventional reservoirs and the complexity of adsorption and transport at multiple-scales, the production of shale gas is far from that being accurately forecast. Micropores (< 2 nm) and macropores (< 50 nm) are responsible for the majority of methane adsorption inside reservoirs. Due to the nanoscale confinement and the high underground pressures and temperature, it is also challenging to predict the fluid transport. In this work we have developed new models for adsorption and transport in and through realistic kerogen samples, using molecular simulations.
This work is funded by partners from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), and involves the following researchers (Carlos, Qiang, Runxi, Saikat, and Yichong).