Ho, TA; Striolo, A; (2015) Water and Methane in Shale Rocks: Flow Pattern Effects on Fluid Transport and Pore Structure. AIChE Journal , 61 (9) pp. 2993-2999. 10.1002/aic.14869.

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Abstract

Using molecular dynamics simulations we study the two-phase flow of water and methane through slit-shaped nano-pores carved from muscovite. The simulations are designed to investigate the effect of flow patterns on the fluids transport and on the pore structure. The results indicate that the Darcy’s law, which describes a linear relation between flow rate and pressure drop, can be violated when the flow pattern is altered. This can happen when the driving force, i.e., the pressure drop, increases above a pore-size dependent threshold. Because the system considered here contains two phases, when the fluid structure changes, the movement of methane with respect to that of water changes, leading to the violation of the Darcy’s law. Our results illustrate the importance of the capillary force, due to the formation of water bridges across the model pores, not only on the fluid flow, but also on the pore structure, in particular its width. When the water bridges are broken, perhaps because of fast fluid flow, the capillary force vanishes leading to significant pore expansion. Because muscovite is a model for illite, a clay often found in shale rocks, these results advance our understanding regarding the mechanism of water and gas transport in tight shale gas formations.

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