Abstract:
The preliminary estimate of the low-rank coalbed methane resources in the Hailar Basin is over 1.59×10
12 m
3, indicating huge potential for resource exploration. In recent years, the area has successively carried out the evaluation of coalbed methane, exploration and gas testing, etc. However, the effect has not been satisfactory. Based on the production data of two coalbed methane wells in this area, the reservoir modification effects under the conventional fracturing and volumetric fracturing were evaluated. Meanwhile, technical suggestions for fracturing of low-rank coal reservoirs in this area were put forward. The research shows that: the content of vitreous groups in the coal ranges from 53.6% to 75.0%. The macroscopic components of the coal are dominated by bright coal and vitreous coal. The coal are highly brittle and suitable for volumetric fracturing of reservoirs. Natural fractures in the coal are developed, mainly endogenic fractures and gas expansion joint groups. The fracture linear density is 0.50 to 0.88 per cm. The fracture opening is large, and there are no filling minerals inside. It has excellent flow conductivity. Moreover, the fractures in the coal are developed, which has a guiding effect on volume fracturing and is conducive to the fracturing transformation. The results of the nanoindentation test show that the hardness of the coal is 0.09 GPa, and the fracture toughness is 0.11 MPa·m
0.5. The coal structure is complete, and coal fines are rare, which is conducive to the implementation of high-flow fracturing in reservoirs. The in-situ stress in this area is of the vertical extrusion - horizontal tension type. The closed stress at the fracture of the coal reservoir is moderate, which is conducive to maintaining the persistent conductivity of the fractures, reducing the construction energy consumption during the fracturing process, and lowering the cost of the fracturing project. Fracturing tests show that the orientation of the plane has an important constraint on the propagation of fractures. The fracturing fluid in the vertical bedding direction of the wellbore can activate a large number of natural fractures more effectively, and the fracture network formation efficiency is higher. The fracturing curve indicates that compared with conventional fracturing, there are more fracture events under volumetric fracturing, suggesting frequent hierarchical fractures in coal, more activation of natural fractures, and more complex fracture forms. The gas well production capacity data also confirm (the peak daily gas production of conventional fracturing vertical wells is only 257.00 m
3/d, The peak gas production of the vertical well under volumetric fracturing can reach 519.00 m
3/d, which is twice that of the former. In the later stage, volumetric fracturing can evenly transform the reservoir, shorten the seepage path of gas, and improve the permeation efficiency of fracturing fluid. The strategy of controlling near-range and covering far-range fracture creation and the full-domain proppant mode should be adopted to create a technical model for the efficient utilization of low-rank coalbed methane in the Hailar Basin.