Fuzzy pattern recognition model of geological sweetspot for coalbed methane development

Abstract

From the perspective of geological zone selection for coalbed methane (CBM) development, the evaluation parameters (covering geological conditions and production conditions) of geological sweetspot for CBM development are determined, and the evaluation index system of geological sweetspot for CBM development is established. On this basis, the fuzzy pattern recognition (FPR) model of geological sweetspot for CBM development is built. The model is applied to evaluate four units of No.3 Coal Seam in the Fanzhuang Block, southern Qinshui Basin, China. The evaluation results are consistent with the actual development effect and the existing research results, which verifies the rationality and reliability of the FPR model. The research shows that the proposed FPR model of geological sweetspot for CBM development does not involve parameter weighting which leads to uncertainties in the results of the conventional models such as analytic hierarchy process and multi-level fuzzy synthesis judgment, and features a simple computation without the construction of multi-level judgment matrix. The FPR model provides reliable results to support the efficient development of CBM.

Keywords

• coalbed methane development
• geological sweetspot
• evaluation index system
• analytic hierarchy process
• multi-level fuzzy synthesis judgment
• fuzzy pattern recognition