Molecular Modeling of Phase Behavior and Flow in Shale Porous Media

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Booming in the shale gas and tight oil industry in the past few years has stimulated profound interest in exploration and production activities. The recoverable shale gas in Canada is estimated to be 573 trillion cubic feet, which can provide 100 years of natural gas supply. Studies directed towards the development of reliable phase behavior and flow modeling of hydrocarbons is key to predict the gas and tight oil production from shale formations. However, shale unconventional reservoirs are very different from the conventional reservoirs where hydrocarbons are stored in fractures and big pores which are generally larger than 100 nm. ******The complexity of shale reservoirs arises from the widely distributed nanopores in shale. Nanopores may result in a large share of adsorption of hydrocarbons and cannot be described by conventional modeling approaches. At nanoscale, distributions of fluid molecules within the pores are inhomogeneous and surface adsorption plays a dominant role in phase behavior and flow. In our research projects, we will use molecular modeling and simulations to explicitly take into account the intermolecular and fluid-surface interactions. It is the overarching goal of our research group to provide reliable phase behavior and flow modeling in shale reservoirs. In the research program outlined in this proposal, we will take the step towards developing a reliable modeling for addressing the challenges in the accurate estimation of hydrocarbon fluid-in-place and flow in shale formation where we have incomplete knowledge to build a fundamental and comprehensive model. ******Activities in this program use deep mathematical concepts and a thorough understanding of physics to produce reliable guidelines that can be used by practitioners in petroleum industry and by other researchers. The education objective of this program is to expose future HQP to fundamental understandings that are very important to develop reliable modeling for shale gas and tight oil, and to teach them to distill the essential features of these knowledge to make contributions to real-life shale production. ******The expected contributions arising from the proposed program have the potential to significantly advance the fundamental understandings toward phase behavior and flow of hydrocarbons under nano-confinement. The outcomes of this research will lead to a more accurate and reliable modeling of phase behavior and flow in shale nanoporous media and provide important insights into reservoir simulations. It will facilitate the optimized estimation of fluid-in-place and design of hydrocarbon recovery process. This could help generate a much higher net present value for operating companies and make shale production in Canada more economically feasible. **