Desorption hysteresis of coalbed methane and its controlling factors: a brief review

doi:10.1007/s11707-021-0910-0

Front. Earth Sci.

2021, Vol. 15

Issue (2) : 224-236 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-021-0910-0

REVIEW ARTICLE

Desorption hysteresis of coalbed methane and its controlling factors: a brief review

Weikai XU¹(

), Junhui LI¹(

), Xiang WU², Du LIU¹, Zhuangsen WANG¹

¹. College of Geoscience and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing 100083, China
². China Coalbed Methane Co. Ltd, Beijing 100011, China

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Abstract

Most coal reservoirs show high gas content with relatively low desorption efficiency, which restricts the efficiency of coalbed methane (CBM) extraction and single-well productivity. This review highlights the desorption hysteresis mechanism and its controlling factors as well as methods and models to reveal desorption hysteresis and potential solutions. Methane adsorption and desorption can be recorded by both gravimetric and volumetric experiments. Although different adsorption models are used, desorption is generally considered with the Langmuir model. Desorption hysteresis is influenced by the petrophysical composition, thermal maturity, pore structure distribution of the coal, reservoir temperature, and moisture and water content. Methods for calculating desorption hysteresis include the area index, hysteresis index and introduction of a hysteresis factor and a hysteresis coefficient. Molecular dynamics simulations of methane desorption are mainly based on theories of kinetics, thermodynamics, and potential energy. The interaction forces operating among coal, water, and methane molecules can be calculated from microscopic intermolecular forces (van der Waals forces). The desorption hysteresis mechanism and desorption process still lack quantitative probe methodologies, and future research should focus on coal wettability under the constraints of liquid content, potential energy adjustment mechanism, and quantitative analysis of methane desorption rates. Further research is expected to reveal the desorption kinetics of methane through the use of the solid–liquid–gas three-phase coupling theory associated with the quantitative analysis of methane desorption hysteresis, thereby enhancing the recovery rate and efficiency of CBM wells.

Keywords desorption hysteresis diffusion process kinetics multiphase coupling coalbed methane production

Corresponding Author(s): Weikai XU,Junhui LI

Online First Date: 28 September 2021 Issue Date: 26 October 2021

Cite this article:

Weikai XU,Junhui LI,Xiang WU, et al. Desorption hysteresis of coalbed methane and its controlling factors: a brief review[J]. Front. Earth Sci., 2021, 15(2): 224-236.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/10.1007/s11707-021-0910-0
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/Y2021/V15/I2/224

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of the isothermal adsorption experimental system. (a) High pressure capacity experiment; (b) gravimetric experiment, from Lafortune et al. (2014) and Shi et al. (2019).

Adsorption model	Equation	Notation	Sources
Langmuir	$V = V L P P L + P$	V: adsorption quantity; V_L: Langmuir volume constant, cm³/g; P: gas pressure, MPa; P_L: Langmuir pressure constant, 1/MPa	Langmuir (1917)
DR	$V = V 0 e x p [− D l n 2 (P 0 / P)]$	V₀: coal micropore volume, cm³/g; P⁰: saturated vapor pressure, MPa	Sakurovs et al. (2007)
DA	$V = V 0 e x p [− D l n n (P 0 / P)]$	n: temperature and coal pore distribution of model parameters	Terzyk et al. (2002)
BET	$V = V m C p (P 0 − P) [1 + (C − 1) (P / P 0)]$	V_m: BET equation of monolayer adsorption capacity, cm³/g; C: adsorption heat correlation constant	Clarkson et al. (1997)
Curve fitting	Quadratic equation: $V = b 0 + b 1 P + b 2 P 2$ ; Cubic equation: $V = b 0 + b 1 P + b 2 P 2 + b 3 P 3$ Logarithmic equation: $V = b 0 + b 1 l n P$	b₀: constant term; b₁: coefficient; b₂: quadratic coefficient; b₃: cubic term coefficient	Ma et al. (2011)

Tab.1 Adsorption mechanism of different adsorption models

Fig.2 Adsorption and desorption isotherms of studied coal samples. Note: ad, adsorption; de, desorption; V_ad, adsorbed gas content; V_r,ad, residual gas content; C1, C2, C3, Coal sample number (Referenced from Zhao et al., 2017).

Tab.2 Factors influencing coalbed methane desorption

Fig.3 Diagram showing methane adsorption and desorption hysteresis under different influencing factors (Moore, 2012).

Calculation method	Equation	Notation	Sources
Area index	$H I = 100 (A d e − A a d A a d)$	A_de: area under the adsorption isotherm; A_ad: area under the desorption isotherm	Zhu and Selim (2000)
Hysteresis index	$H I = A d e − A a d A s f − A a d × 100 %$	A_de: area under the adsorption isotherm; A_ad: area under the desorption isotherm; A_sf: measure hysteresis area	Wang et al. (2014a)
Introducing hysteresis factor	$P 1 = α P;$ $Q = Q m b P 1 1 + b P 1$	α: hysteresis factor; P: adsorption equilibrium pressure; P₁: desorption equilibrium pressure; Q: molality of the adsorbed gas during desorption; Q_m: saturation adsorption capacity of single molecule; b: adsorption constant	Qi et al. (2016)
Hysteresis coefficient	$H c = P d c d P a c d$	P_dcd: isothermal desorption curve critical desorption pressure; P_acd: isothermal adsorption curve critical desorption pressure	Lin et al. (2016)

Tab.3 Calculation method of the hysteresis coefficient of methane desorption

Fig.4 Stress analysis of methane adsorption on the coal matrix under different water content conditions.

Fig.5 Schematic diagram of factors influencing coalbed methane desorption.

Fig.6 Schematic of the hydrodynamic sealing mechanism (Li and Horne, 2007).

Fig.7 Schematic diagram of modeling types for molecular simulation.

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