ADVANCES IN CRYOGENIC FRACTURING OF COALBED METHANE RESERVOIRS WITH LN2
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Date
2022
Authors
Longinos, Sotirios Nik.
Wang, Lei
Hazlett, Randy
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Energies
Abstract
Coalbed methane (CBM) is a significant unconventional natural gas resource existing in
matrix pores and fractures of coal seams and is a cleaner energy resource compared to coal and crude
oil. To produce CBM, stimulation operations are required, given that the coal permeability is generally
too low. Hydraulic fracturing is the most widely used technology for reservoir stimulation; however,
there are a few challenging issues associated with it, e.g., huge water consumption. In the past decade,
the use of liquid nitrogen (LN2) as a fracturing fluid has been intensively studied for stimulating
CBM reservoirs, achieving considerable progress in understanding fracturing mechanisms and
optimizing fracturing techniques. This paper presents a thorough review of experimental design and
observations, modeling procedures and results, field applications, and published patents. Existing
studies are divided into five different groups for discussion and comparison, including immersion
tests, injection tests, jet drilling tests, numerical modeling, and field applications. Based on the
comprehensive evaluation of the outcomes, it is obvious that cryogenic fracturing using LN2 is a
promising eco-friendly fracturing technique that can effectively enhance coal rock permeability to
increase the production of CBM.
Description
Keywords
Type of access: Open Access, cryogenic fracturing, coalbed methane, immersion tests, injection experiments, numerical modeling
Citation
Longinos, S. N., Wang, L., & Hazlett, R. D. (2022). Advances in Cryogenic Fracturing of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs with LN2. Energies, 15(24), 9464. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15249464