Research on Deep Coalbed Methane Localized Spotting and Efficient Permeability Enhancement Technology

Abstract

To solve the bottleneck problem of low deep coal seam permeability and difficult coalbed methane (CBM) mining. Combining hydraulic splitting technology and directional drilling technology, a directional hydraulic splitting enhancement method of deep CBM mining was proposed. The selection equation for the directional hydraulic splitting of deep coalbed was constructed. The numerical simulation reveals the variation in coal fractures around different split angles. The split angle under the maximum coal damage effect was obtained. It was found that the combined effect of the double crack damage disturbance region led to reciprocal stress fluctuations during crack development and, eventually, the formation of a zigzag fracture. The larger the splitting angle, the larger the fissure development length and the larger the coal-damaged area. A double crack takes 25% less time to complete propagation than a single crack. When the splitting angle is 90°, the disturbed area occupies 2/3 of the area around the borehole, and the overall fracturing effect is the best. In the application process, the new directional hydraulic splitting technology can increase CBM mining by 5.08%, greatly improve CBM mining efficiency, and reduce the coal mining risk, which is of great significance to the project.

Keywords

• directional splitting
• damage region
• coalbed methane mining
• coalbed permeability enhancement