Integrating Micro-scale Modelling with Core Measurements to Improve Shale Gas Production
The Department of Engineering cordially invites you to the following doctoral thesis defense:
Integrating Micro-scale Modelling with Core Measurements to Improve Shale Gas Production
Until recently, resources encountered in tight formations, such as, shales were deemed uneconomical to produce. Advances in horizontal drilling and reservoir stimulation have shifted this perspective to render gas shale reservoirs one of the most promising hydrocarbon resources around the world. To identify the parameters, which govern natural gas production, we propose a geometrically accurate model inspired from Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) imaging. Discretising the computational domain, we solve the equations of flow considering the mechanisms of Fickian and Knudsen diffusion, Klinkenberg permeability, real gas behaviour and the adsorption/desorption processes. We have determined the gas flowrate and deduced the pressure variations inside shale porous media at the micro-level. A non-dimensionalisation approach was developed that permits the comparison between micro-scale modelling results with actual core measurements several orders of magnitude apart in spatial and temporal scales. Meanwhile, a flowrate sensitivity analysis was conducted in the context of the matrix and the fluid properties. Ultimately, our efforts aim to tie the prevailing theoretical understanding with experimental observations deemed significant for boosting the productivity of gas from shale formations.
Speaker’s bio:
Ms. Natalia Kovalchuk is currently a PhD candidate in Oil, Gas & Energy Engineering at the Marine and Carbon Lab, at the University of Nicosia. Her doctoral research investigates the characteristics of natural gas transport in shales at the micro- and nano-scales. Natalia holds a Master’s Degree in Reservoir Evaluation and Management from Herriot Watt University, UK, and a Master’s Degree in Geological and Geophysical Development Problems of Oil and Gas Fields from Tomsk Polytechnic University, Russia, through a double degree program. Before moving to Cyprus, she was employed as a Geoscientist at Baker Hughes Company in Russia and Kazakhstan. During her professional assignments in different regions of Russia and Kazakhstan her responsibilities comprised petrophysical and borehole imaging interpretation.
The talk to be delivered in English, will be open to the public and will be lived streamed via WebEx. Please save the date:
Date: 2nd Nov., 2020
Venue/Time: Online live streaming, 15.00 – 16.00 at: https://bit.ly/3jwIbVS
Meeting number (access code): 137 413 5386
Meeting password: ShaleGas (74253427 from cellphones)
For more info please see project webpage: http://www.carbonlab.eu/gas-production-from-shale-formations/