• Energy Research

Abstract As ultra-tight porous media that include organic contents, shale gas resources are technically known as complex systems having various mechanisms that impact storage and flow. The slippage, Knudsen diffusion, the process of desorption, an adsorbed layer that affects apparent permeability, and solute gas in kerogen are recognized to be the most important ones. However, simultaneous effects of multi-mechanism flow and storage, and influences of scattered organic contents on shale gas flow behaviour are not well-understood yet. According to the mass conservation law, a basic mathematical model has been developed to investigate, step-by-step, the effects of different changes that are introduced, and examine whether patterns of how kerogen is distributed affect the production plateaus. The discretization of the second-order nonlinear Partial Differential Equation (PDE) that is evolved results in a certain number of nonlinear simultaneous algebraic equations, which are conventionally solved with the application of Newton’s method. To overcome the inherent difficulties of the initial guess, the derivations, and the inversion of the Jacobian matrix, a new application of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) as a nonlinear solver was applied to extract the anticipated pressure profile for each step in time outside the bounds of the reference equations. The results show that not only can the PSO effectively meet the required criteria, but also it performed faster than conventional techniques, especially in cases with a larger number of grids that encompass more phenomena. It was further revealed that the insertion of a multi-mechanism apparent permeability model in which the pore radius is also a pressure-dependent parameter causes the lower rate of production. A higher level of production has been recorded after including storage terms of adsorption and solute gas in kerogens. Although different patterns of kerogen distribution have finally overlapped, the different taken trend of each production profile underlines the impact of kerogen distribution as an important parameter within the procedure of history matching.

Abstract As ultra-tight porous media that include organic contents, shale gas resources are technically known as complex systems having various mechanisms that impact storage and flow. The slippage, Knudsen diffusion, the process of desorption, an adsorbed layer that affects apparent permeability, and solute gas in kerogen are recognized to be the most important ones. However, simultaneous effects of multi-mechanism flow and storage, and influences of scattered organic contents on shale gas flow behaviour are not well-understood yet. According to the mass conservation law, a basic mathematical model has been developed to investigate, step-by-step, the effects of different changes that are introduced, and examine whether patterns of how kerogen is distributed affect the production plateaus. The discretization of the second-order nonlinear Partial Differential Equation (PDE) that is evolved results in a certain number of nonlinear simultaneous algebraic equations, which are conventionally solved with the application of Newton’s method. To overcome the inherent difficulties of the initial guess, the derivations, and the inversion of the Jacobian matrix, a new application of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) as a nonlinear solver was applied to extract the anticipated pressure profile for each step in time outside the bounds of the reference equations. The results show that not only can the PSO effectively meet the required criteria, but also it performed faster than conventional techniques, especially in cases with a larger number of grids that encompass more phenomena. It was further revealed that the insertion of a multi-mechanism apparent permeability model in which the pore radius is also a pressure-dependent parameter causes the lower rate of production. A higher level of production has been recorded after including storage terms of adsorption and solute gas in kerogens. Although different patterns of kerogen distribution have finally overlapped, the different taken trend of each production profile underlines the impact of kerogen distribution as an important parameter within the procedure of history matching.

Acknowledgements The Egyptian authors were supported by Science, Technology & Innovation Funding Authority (STDF) under the grant (30894). The UK's authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from an Institutional Links grant, ID 352343681, under the Newton-Mosharafa Fund partnership. The grant is funded by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and delivered by the British Council. We are also grateful to the publishers, journals, and authors who provided their permission for us to reproduce their figures and tables in this review. ; Peer reviewed

Acknowledgements The Egyptian authors were supported by Science, Technology & Innovation Funding Authority (STDF) under the grant (30894). The UK's authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from an Institutional Links grant, ID 352343681, under the Newton-Mosharafa Fund partnership. The grant is funded by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and delivered by the British Council. We are also grateful to the publishers, journals, and authors who provided their permission for us to reproduce their figures and tables in this review. ; Peer reviewed

Esters were found to be promising alternatives to oil, as a constituent of drilling fluids, due to their biodegradability and bioaccumulation attributes. In this study, we used ethyl octanoate ester (EO) as a low molecular weight synthetic oil for formulating an ester-based drilling fluid (EBDF). Aluminum oxide nanorods (nanoparticles) were introduced as a Pickering emulsion stabilizer. Like the commercial emulsifiers, they showed that they stabilized the invert emulsion drilling fluid in our study. The rheological and filtration properties of the EBDF were tested at normal pressure and three temperatures: low temperature deepwater (LT) conditions of 2.6 °C, normal pressure and normal temperature (NPNT) conditions of 26.8 °C, and elevated temperature conditions of 70 °C. To enhance the stability and filtration properties of the drilling fluid, aluminum oxide nanoparticles (NPs) were used. An optimum concentration of 1 wt% was found to provide superior rheological performance and higher stability than samples without NPs at NPNT, LT, and elevated temperature conditions. Steadier gel rheology was exhibited at elevated temperature conditions, and a slow rate of an increasing trend occurred at the lower temperatures, with increasing NP concentrations up to 1.5 wt%. Filtration loss tests presented a reduction of fluid loss with increasing the NP concentration. The results demonstrate that a reduction of up to 45% was achieved with the addition of 1 wt% NP. These results show that nano-enhancement of ethyl octanoate drilling fluids would suffice to provide a wider range of operational temperatures for deepwater drilling operations by providing better thermal stability at elevated temperatures and maintaining stability at lower temperatures.

Esters were found to be promising alternatives to oil, as a constituent of drilling fluids, due to their biodegradability and bioaccumulation attributes. In this study, we used ethyl octanoate ester (EO) as a low molecular weight synthetic oil for formulating an ester-based drilling fluid (EBDF). Aluminum oxide nanorods (nanoparticles) were introduced as a Pickering emulsion stabilizer. Like the commercial emulsifiers, they showed that they stabilized the invert emulsion drilling fluid in our study. The rheological and filtration properties of the EBDF were tested at normal pressure and three temperatures: low temperature deepwater (LT) conditions of 2.6 °C, normal pressure and normal temperature (NPNT) conditions of 26.8 °C, and elevated temperature conditions of 70 °C. To enhance the stability and filtration properties of the drilling fluid, aluminum oxide nanoparticles (NPs) were used. An optimum concentration of 1 wt% was found to provide superior rheological performance and higher stability than samples without NPs at NPNT, LT, and elevated temperature conditions. Steadier gel rheology was exhibited at elevated temperature conditions, and a slow rate of an increasing trend occurred at the lower temperatures, with increasing NP concentrations up to 1.5 wt%. Filtration loss tests presented a reduction of fluid loss with increasing the NP concentration. The results demonstrate that a reduction of up to 45% was achieved with the addition of 1 wt% NP. These results show that nano-enhancement of ethyl octanoate drilling fluids would suffice to provide a wider range of operational temperatures for deepwater drilling operations by providing better thermal stability at elevated temperatures and maintaining stability at lower temperatures.