Analytical and Experimental Investigations of Gas-Flow Regimes in Shales Considering the Influence of Mean Effective Stress

Flow conditions determine the flow regimes governing gas flow in porous media. Slip-flow regime commonly occurs in laboratory gas-permeability measurements, and one must consider the physics of that when finding the absolute permeability of a sample. Accurate permeability estimates are paramount for production forecasts, financial planning, and recovery estimation. Slip flow is present in low-permeability rocks, both in the laboratory environment and at reservoir conditions. Gas flow through the matrix lies under the slip-flow regime for the majority of low-permeability-reservoir production scenarios, and accurate prediction of pressure and production rate requires a good understanding of the flow regime. In this paper, an analytical study is conducted on the dominant flow regimes under typical shale-gas reservoir conditions. A flow-regime map is produced with respect to gas pressure and matrix permeability. Steady-state gas-permeability experiments are conducted on three shale samples. An analytical model is used to match the experimental results that could explain the order-of-magnitude difference between the permeabilities of gas and liquid in shales. Experimental results are combined with further tests available in the literature to inform a discussion of the model's parameters. The results improve the accuracy of gas-flow modeling and of absolute-permeability estimates from laboratory tests. Similar tests performed at various mean effective stresses investigate the influence of mean effective stress on flow regime and apparent permeability. The results indicate that flow regime is a function of mean effective stress, and that the apparent permeability of shale rocks is a function of both flow regime and mean effective stress.