A Review of Macroscopic Modeling for Shale Gas Production: Gas Flow Mechanisms, Multiscale Transport, and Solution Techniques

Yuyang Liu; Xiaowei Zhang; Wei Zhang; Wei Guo; Lixia Kang; Dan Liu; Jinliang Gao; Rongze Yu; Yuping Sun

LAPSE

Living Archive for Process Systems Engineering

LAPSE:2024.0221

Published Article

LAPSE:2024.0221

A Review of Macroscopic Modeling for Shale Gas Production: Gas Flow Mechanisms, Multiscale Transport, and Solution Techniques

Yuyang Liu, Xiaowei Zhang, Wei Zhang, Wei Guo, Lixia Kang, Dan Liu, Jinliang Gao, Rongze Yu, Yuping Sun

February 10, 2024

The boost of shale gas production in the last decade has reformed worldwide energy structure. The macroscale modeling of shale gas production becomes particularly important as the economic development of such resources relies on the deployment of expensive hydraulic fracturing and the reasonable planning of well schedules. A flood of literature was therefore published focused on accurately and efficiently simulating the production performance of shale gas and better accounting for the various geological features or flow mechanisms that control shale gas transport. In this regard, this paper presents a holistic review of the macroscopic modeling of gas transport in shale. The review is carried out from three important points of view, which are the modeling of the gas flow mechanisms, the representation of multiscale transport, and solution techniques for the mathematical models. Firstly, the importance of gas storage and flow mechanisms in shale is discussed, and the various theoretical models used to characterize these effects in the continuum scale are introduced. Then, based on the intricate pore structure and various pore types of shale gas reservoirs, this review summarizes the multiple-porosity models in the literature to represent multiscale gas transport, and discusses the applicability of each model. Finally, the numerical and analytical/semi-analytical approaches used to solve the macroscopic mathematical model governing shale gas production are reviewed, with a focus on the treatment of the complex fracture network formed after multistage hydraulic fracturing.

Record ID

LAPSE:2024.0221

Keywords

hydraulic fractures, macroscopic modeling, shale gas reservoir

Subject

Energy Systems

Suggested Citation

Liu Y, Zhang X, Zhang W, Guo W, Kang L, Liu D, Gao J, Yu R, Sun Y. A Review of Macroscopic Modeling for Shale Gas Production: Gas Flow Mechanisms, Multiscale Transport, and Solution Techniques. (2024). LAPSE:2024.0221

Author Affiliations

Liu Y: PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (RIPED), Beijing 100083, China; China National Shale Gas Research & Development (Experiment) Center, Langfang 065007, China [ORCID]
Zhang X: PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (RIPED), Beijing 100083, China; China National Shale Gas Research & Development (Experiment) Center, Langfang 065007, China
Zhang W: School of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
Guo W: PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (RIPED), Beijing 100083, China; China National Shale Gas Research & Development (Experiment) Center, Langfang 065007, China [ORCID]
Kang L: PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (RIPED), Beijing 100083, China; China National Shale Gas Research & Development (Experiment) Center, Langfang 065007, China
Liu D: PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (RIPED), Beijing 100083, China; China National Shale Gas Research & Development (Experiment) Center, Langfang 065007, China
Gao J: PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (RIPED), Beijing 100083, China; China National Shale Gas Research & Development (Experiment) Center, Langfang 065007, China
Yu R: PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (RIPED), Beijing 100083, China; China National Shale Gas Research & Development (Experiment) Center, Langfang 065007, China
Sun Y: PetroChina Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (RIPED), Beijing 100083, China; China National Shale Gas Research & Development (Experiment) Center, Langfang 065007, China [ORCID]

Journal Name

Processes

Volume

11

Issue

9

First Page

2766

Year

2023

Publication Date

2023-09-15