A systematic knowledge
of the pore morphology of coal treated with
supercritical CO2 (ScCO2) is critical for the
process of CO2 geological sequestration. To better understand
the desorption mechanism and to evaluate the storage capacity of target
coal seams, the changes in pore volume, pore size distribution, fractal
dimension, pore shape, and connectivity in high-, middle-, and low-rank
coals were analyzed using N2/CO2 adsorption
and mercury intrusion porosimetry. The results indicate that micropores
of high- and middle-rank coals decreased after ScCO2 treatment,
whereas an increasing trend was found in low-rank coals, and ScCO2 promoted the accessibility of the macropore spaces for all
coals. With ScCO2 treatment, the roughness of smaller pores
in both high- and middle-rank coals decreased, whereas larger pores
became more complex for high-rank coals. Although no significant change
was observed in the pore shapes, ScCO2 facilitated the
development of effective pore spaces and improved the connectivity
of the pore system. Additionally, the gas desorption properties of
these samples were enhanced by ScCO2, verifying the pore
morphology results. A conceptual model was proposed to explain the
mechanism of the desorption process in relation to the constricted
pore spaces of the coal matrix under ScCO2 and higher-pressure
conditions. The results contribute to the understanding of long-term
CO2 storage and enhanced coalbed methane recovery.
The
diffusion coefficient of methane in coal is a key parameter
for the prediction of coalbed methane production. The apparent diffusion
coefficient is different from the true diffusion coefficient, which
would result in the deviation of methane production. In this study,
the particle method using the unipore model and the counterdiffusion
method is adopted to measure the methane diffusion coefficients. The
results indicated that the true diffusion coefficient obtained by
the counterdiffusion experiment decreases first and then increases
with increasing methane pressure. The apparent diffusion coefficients
obtained by the particle method with two different grain sizes are
lower than the true diffusion coefficient. The relationship between
the apparent diffusion coefficient and the true diffusion coefficient
is analyzed, and the desorption capacity factor (DCF) is proposed
to reflect the gap between them. The apparent diffusion coefficient
is closer to the true diffusion coefficient when the DCF is small.
When using the particle method to estimate the methane diffusion coefficient,
experiments with large coal particles and a small methane concentration
gradient should be adopted.
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