Masters of Science / This study is focused on the Coal Bed Methane resources of Botswana with specific reference to the Central Kalahari basin where prospect license blocks forming the focus of this study are located. The aim of this study is to evaluate the fracture network in the coal seams and the fracture systems in the surrounding coal bearing sedimentary sequences and their contribution to dynamic flow. Coal bed methane sources are dual-porosity media documented on the natural fracture network, seen as micropores (matrix/natural fractures) and macropores (cleat). The coals of this region belong to the Ecca Group’s Morupule Fm (Permian) (70 m), focus of this study and have been preserved in the extensive Karoo basin within the Southern Africa region. Fractures can easily be identified in Acoustic Televiewer logs (ATV) and their orientation and structural character interpreted by rose plots, tadpoles and stick dip plots. In-situ stress fields have been determined from breakout structural evaluation and maintains a general E-W dip direction and N-S strike, thus most fractures are orientated optimally with inferred in-situ stress and enhancing flow potential in pore systems. A qualitative (MID plots & M-N cross-plots) and quantitative description of the fracture system is fundamental to the petrophysical evaluation, and involves the estimation of fracture parameters (fracture porosity, resistivity fracture index and both horizontal and vertical fracture indices).

No description available.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Lab conducted proximate analysis of coal bearing rock units calculates the weight percentage of ash, moisture, fixed carbon and volatile matter through a series of combustion steps. The data obtained is quintessential in establishing the coal rank and in the case of coal bed methane the gas-in-place estimates. In this study 105 proximate analysis samples, from 7 drilled wells, are taken from the south-eastern Kalahari Basin in Botswana. The pseudo proximate analysis, the method proposed in this thesis, calculates the lab proximate analysis results using the neutron, density and gamma ray wireline logs. The uniqueness of the method lies in the fact that no cut off values are needed for the wireline logs, nor are the results of the lab proximate analysis required for calibration. An in depth study of the relationship between the wireline logs and proximate analysis is conducted using a principle component analysis and the results tested using a combination of statistical techniques to determine the significance of the relationship. It is shown that the density and neutron logs model the proportion of ash and volatile matter in the rock matrix, respectively, with a high degree of accuracy. The multiple regression analysis shows that percentages fixed carbon and moisture components of the rock matrix correlate poorly to the proposed well logs, thus most error lies in the determination of these two components. It is statistically proven that the pseudo proximate analysis results are significantly different to the lab measured proximate analysis. This implies that the proposed pseudo proximate analysis method is unable to accurately determine the components of a coal bearing rock matrix using the density, neutron and gamma ray wireline logs. The application of the proposed method is a model to identity the coal bearing rock matrix and provide a predictive estimation of the coal quality, a priori lab measured data.

Les émissions de CO2 dans l'atmosphère sont reconnues comme ayant un effet significatif sur le réchauffement climatique. Le stockage géologique de CO2 est largement considéré comme une approche essentielle pour réduire l'impact de telles émissions sur l'environnement. De plus, injecter du dioxyde de carbone dans les veines de charbon remplies de méthane présent naturellement facilite la récupération de ce méthane, un processus connu sous le nom de récupération assistée du méthane des veines de charbon (ECBM en anglais). Mais le gonflement de la matrice de charbon induite par l'adsorption préférentielle de dioxyde de carbone par rapport au méthane conduit à la fermeture du système de cleats (un ensemble de petites fractures naturelles) du réservoir et donc à une perte d'injectivité. Cette thèse de doctorat est consacrée à l'étude de comment cet injectivité évolue en présence de fluides. Nous dérivons deux modèles poromécaniques à double porosité pour une veine de charbon saturée par un liquide pur. Les équations constitutives obtenues permettent de mieux comprendre et modéliser le lien entre injectivité de la veine de charbon et gonflement du charbon induit par l'adsorption. Pour les deux modèles, on considère l'espace poreux du réservoir comme divisé en les cleats macroporeuses et les pores de la matrice de charbon. Les deux modèles diffèrent dans la manière dont l'adsorption de fluide est prise en compte : le premier modèle est limité à une adsorption surfacique, tandis que le deuxième modèle peut être appliqué à l'adsorption dans un milieu possédant un réseau poreux générique, et donc dans un milieu microporeux comme le charbon, pour lequel l'adsorption se déroule principalement par remplissage de micropores. Le second modèle est calibré sur deux charbons avec des propriétés de sorption et de gonflement différentes. Nous effectuons alors des simulations à différentes échelles (du Volume Élémentaire Représentatif, de l'échantillon de charbon, la veine de charbon). En particulier, nous validons notre modèle sur des données expérimentales de variations de perméabilité de charbon induites par l'adsorption. Nous effectuons aussi des simulations de veines dont le méthane serait produit (un processus connu sous le nom de CBM en anglais) ou de veines sans méthane dans lesquelles du CO2 serait injecté. Nous étudions l'effet de différents paramètres tels que les conditions aux limites, la compressibilité de la matrice de charbon, ou la cinétique de transfert de liquide entre les cleats et la matrice de charbon. Dans une dernière partie, le modèle dérivé est étendu aux cas pour lesquels le charbon est en présence de mélanges fluides binaires tels que les mélanges de méthane et le dioxyde de carbone. Nous calibrons entièrement calibré ce modèle étendu sur des données disponibles obtenues expérimentalement et par simulations moléculaires. Des calculs sont alors effectués à l'échelle d'un Volume Élémentaire Représentatif pour prévoir comment sa porosité et sa perméabilité varient en présence de mélanges fluides de méthane et de dioxyde de carbone / CO2 emissions into the atmosphere are recognized to have a significant effect on global warming. Geological storage of CO2 is widely regarded as an essential approach to reduce the impact of such emissions on the environment. Moreover, injecting carbon dioxide in coal bed methane reservoirs facilitates the recovery of the methane naturally present, a process known as enhanced coal bed methane recovery (ECBM). But the swelling of the coal matrix induced by the preferential adsorption by coal of carbon dioxide over the methane in place leads to a closure of the cleat system (a set of small natural fractures) of the reservoir and therefore to a loss of injectivity. This PhD thesis is dedicated to a study of how this injectivity evolves in presence of fluids. We derive two poromechanical dual-porosity models for a coal bed reservoir saturated by a pure fluid. The resulting constitutive equations enable to better understand and model the link between the injectivity of a coal seam and the adsorption-induced swelling of coal. For both models, the pore space of the reservoir is considered to be divided into the macroporous cleats and the pores of the coal matrix. The two models differ by how adsorption of fluid is taken into account: the first model is restricted to surface adsorption, while the second model can be applied for adsorption in a medium with a generic pore size distribution and thus in a microporous medium such as coal, in which adsorption mostly occurs by micropore filling. The latter model is calibrated on two coals with different sorption and swelling properties. We then perform simulations at various scales (Representative Elementary Volume, coal sample, coal seam). In particular, we validate our model on experimental data of adsorption-induced variations of permeability of coal. We also perform simulations of seams from which methane would be produced (CBM) or of methane-free seams into which CO2 would be injected. We study the effect of various parameters such as boundary conditions, compressibility of the coal matrix, or kinetics of transfer of fluid between cleats and coal matrix. In a final part, the derived model is extended to cases for which coal is in presence of fluid binary mixtures such as mixtures of methane and carbon dioxide. We fully calibrate this extended model on available data obtained experimentally and by molecular simulations. Calculations are then performed at the scale of a Representative Elementary Volume in order to predict how its porosity and its permeability vary in presence of fluid mixtures of methane and carbon dioxide

No description available.

This dissertation presents contributions to the understanding of the dynamic nature of permeability of Indonesian coal. It is the first-of-its-kind study, first presenting a comparison of experimental results with those obtained using existing analytical permeability models, and then modifying the existing anisotropic model for application to the unique physical structure of Indonesian coal. The first problem addressed in this dissertation was establishing the pressure-dependentpermeability of coal in a laboratory environment replicating in situ conditions for two coal types from the Sanga Sanga basin of Kalimantan, Indonesia. The change in permeability with depletion and the corresponding volumetric strain of coal were measured in the laboratory under uniaxial strain condition (zero lateral strain). Two gases, helium and methane, were used as the flowing fluids during experimental work. The results showed that, decreasing pore pressure resulted in significant decrease in horizontal stress and increased permeability. The permeability increase at low reservoir pressure was significant, a positive finding for Indonesian coals. Using the measured volumetric changes with variations in pressure, the cleat compressibility for the two coal types was estimated. In a separate effort, volumetric strain as a result of desorption of gases was measured using sister samples under unconstrained condition, in absence of the stress effect. Sorptioninduced strain processes were modeled using the Langmuir-type model to acquire the two important shrinkage parameters. All parameters calculated using the experimental data were used for the modeling exercise. The second component of this dissertation is the permeability variation modeling to enable projecting long-term gas production in the Sanga Sanga basin. For this, two commonly used isotropic permeability models were selected. These models, developed primarily for the San Juan coal, were unable to match the measured permeability data. This was believed to be due to the inappropriate geometry used to represent Indonesian coal, where butt cleats are believed to be absent. This was followed by application of the most recent model, incorporating partial anisotropy in coal. This consideration improved the modeling results although there clearly was room for improvement. The final challenge addressed in this dissertation was to consider the coal geometry appropriate for Indonesian coal, stack of sheets as opposed to a bundle of matchsticks. In order to incorporate the structural anisotropy for the stack of sheets geometry, two input parameters were modified, based on geo-mechanical anisotropy. After applying these to the modified model, the permeability modeling results were compared with the experimental data. The matches improved significantly. Finally, the effect of maximum horizontal stress on permeability of coal was estimated by using high and low maximum horizontal stress values and constant vertical and minimum horizontal stresses. The effect of maximum horizontal stress on permeability was found to be significant under uniaxial strain condition for both coals.

The large amount of produced oil and gas come from conventional resources all over the world and these resources are being depleted rapidly. This fact and the increasing oil and gas prices force the producing countries to find and search for new methods to recover more oil and gas. In order to meet the demand, the oil and gas industry has been turning towards to unconventional oil and gas reservoirs which become more popular every passing day. In recent years, they are seriously considered as supplementary to the conventional resources although these reservoirs cannot be produced at an economic rate or cannot produce economic volumes of oil and gas without assistance from massive stimulation treatments, special recovery processes or advanced technologies. The vast increase in demand for petroleum and gas has encouraged the new technological development and implementation. A wide range of technologies have been developed and deployed since 1980. With the wellbore technology, it is possible to make use of highly deviated wellbores, extended reach drilling, horizontal wells, multilateral wells and so on. All of the new technologies and a large number of new innovations have allowed development of increasingly complex economically marginal fields where shale gas and coal bed methane are found. In this study, primary target is to compare different production methods in order to obtain better well performance and improved production from different types of reservoirs. It is also be given some technical information regarding the challenges such as hydraulic fracturing and multilateral well configuration of the unconventional gas reservoir modeling and simulation. With the help of advances in algorithms, computer power, and integrated software, it is possible to apply and analyze the effect of the different well trajectories such as vertical, horizontal, and multilateral well on the future production performance of coal bed methane, shale gas, and tight gas reservoirs. A commercial simulator will be used to run the simulations and achieve the best-case scenarios. The study will lead the determination of optimum production methods for three different reservoirs that are explained above under the various circumstances and the understanding the production characteristic and profile of unconventional gas systems.

This thesis investigates methane emissions and methane production potentials from abandoned longwall panels produced or emitted due to mining activities either from coal seam or any underlying or overlying formations. These emissions can increase greenhouse gas concentrations and also pose a danger to the underground working environment and to miners. In addition to the safety issues, recovery and utilization of this gas is an additional source of energy. In this study, methane concentrations measured from ventilation air ways in Yeni &Ccedil / eltek Coal Mine, which is located in Suluova basin, Amasya, and contains thick, laterally extensive Lower Eocene coal seams, were integrated within a numerical vi reservoir model. Key reservoir parameters for history matching are cleat permeabilities, cleat porosity, diffusion time and Langmuir volume and Langmuir pressure. Thirteen cases were studied. According to the results, Case-10 determined as the best fitted case for both of the production wells. Cleat permeabilities and Langmuir pressure were the most effective parameters. Reservoir parameters matched are cleat permeabilities of 5, 4 and 1 md and fracture dimensions of 0.8, 0.4, and 0.1 m in x, y and z direction respectively, 2 % cleat porosity, 0.3 % water saturation. Diffusion time was determined as 400 days and 2000 kPa Langmuir volume and 6.24279 m3 /tone gas content estimated. According to these results it can be said that methane production will not be economically feasible, however / to remedy underground working conditions and safety of workers methane management should be taken into consideration.

Sulfate- and Fe(III)-reducing, and methanogenic prokaryotes (SRP, FRP, MGP) are key players in metabolic pathways involved in anaerobic biodegradation processes. Understanding the metabolic activity of these microbes in environments can enhance microbe-mediated processes such as oil spill bioremediation and methane biogas production. In this study, anaerobic microbial activities in Deepwater Horizon oil spill-impacted salt marsh sediments, and in methanogenic coal bed production water enrichment cultures amended with trace elements (TE), were elucidated by employing an approach combining methods in molecular biology and geochemistry. In situ metabolic activity of SRP, FRP and MGP were monitored seasonally and metabolically-active communities were identified in oil-impacted sediments using quantitative real time Reverse Transcription -PCR and clone library analysis of key functional genes: Dissimilatory (bi)sulfite reductase (dsrAB), Geobactereceae-specific citrate synthase (gltA), methyl coenzyme M reductase (mcrA), and benzyl succinate synthase (bssA). In situ application of montmorillonite clay was assessed for its potential at accelerating PHC degradation by stimulating microbial activities. Levels of dsrA, gltA and bssA transcripts suggested that PHC-oxidizing SRP are more active in summer while FRP are more active in winter, indicating their activities linked to the seasonal changes of redox potential and vegetation. BssA gene expression peaked in winter, and was highest at more highly oil-impacted sites. Expression of all genes was higher in clay-amended sites. bssA transcript level and Fe(II) production were highest in clay-amended microcosm. Total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) levels were lower in oil and clay-amended microcosm incubation than one with oil only amendment, suggesting enhanced TPH degradation by clay amendment. Pyrosequencing analysis 16S rRNA gene in clay-amended microcosms demonstrated the highest percentage abundance of groups closely related to known anaerobic aromatic degraders. Levels of mcrA transcripts correlated with methane production rates in TE-amended coal bed production water enrichments. The findings of the present study clearly support the advantage of gene expression analyses for estimating microbial activity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first in situ study which employs key functional gene markers as molecular proxies for metabolic activity and diversity assessments in anaerobic oil-contaminated salt marsh sediment and also elucidates clay-enhanced in situ TPH degradation.