Carbon Dioxide Transport and Sorption Behavior in Confined Coal Cores for Enhanced Coalbed Methane and CO2 Sequestration

Measurements of sorption isotherms and transport properties of CO2 in coal cores are important for designing enhanced coalbed methane/CO2 sequestration field projects. Sorption isotherms measured in the lab can provide the upper limit on the amount of CO2 that might be sorbed in these projects. Because sequestration sites will most likely be in unmineable coals, many of the coals will be deep and under considerable lithostatic and hydrostatic pressures. These lithostatic pressures may significantly reduce the sorption capacities and/or transport rates. Consequently, we have studied apparent sorption and diffusion in a coal core under confining pressure. A core from the important bituminous coal Pittsburgh #8 was kept under a constant, three-dimensional external stress; the sample was scanned by X-ray computer tomography (CT) before, then while it sorbed, CO2. Increases in sample density due to sorption were calculated from the CT images. Moreover, density distributions for small volume elements inside the core were calculated and analyzed. Qualitatively, the computerized tomography showed that gas sorption advanced at different rates in different regions of the core, and that diffusion and sorption progressed slowly. The amounts of CO2 sorbed were plotted vs. position (at fixed times) and vs. time (for various locations in the sample). The resulting sorption isotherms were compared to isotherms obtained from powdered coal from the same Pittsburgh #8 extended sample. The results showed that for this single coal at specified times, the apparent sorption isotherms were dependent on position of the volume element in the core and the distance from the CO2 source. Also, the calculated isotherms showed that less CO2 was sorbed than by a powdered (and unconfined) sample of the coal. Changes in density distributions during the experiment were also observed. After desorption, the density distribution of calculated volume elements differed from the initial distribution, suggesting hysteresis and a possible rearrangement of coal structure due to CO2 sorption

Characterization of Trapped Gas Saturation and Heterogeneity in Core Samples Using Miscible-Displacement Experiments

Trapped gas saturation and permeability heterogeneity were evaluated in Berea cores at reservoir conditions, using standard miscible displacement experiments, with and without surfactants. Pressure and production history were influenced by core heterogeneity and foam lamellae formation when aqueous surfactant was present in the core. A simple dispersion model and a three-coefficient dispersion-capacitance model (Coates-Smith) were fit to the experimental data. The dispersion-capacitance model successfully matched the experiments in which foam lamella formed, while the simple dispersion model was used only for determining initial core flow heterogeneity. The objective of the dispersion-capacitance model was to estimate trapped gas saturations; however longitudinal dispersion and mass transfer also were examined. The results show that the dispersion-capacitance model accurately fits trapped gas saturation controlled by rock heterogeneities and foam lamellae for lamella generating mechanisms that allow a continuous gas phase (leave-behind lamellae). The practical applications resulting from this study can aid in core sample selection and scaling short laboratory corefloods to field dimensions for applications to foam stimulation and underground storage of natural gas