Researchers to Test New Quad Porosity Simulation Prototype for Shale Gas Reservoirs

A team of researchers from the University of Oklahoma will carry out a field test for the ‘quad porosity model’ which has been developed recently for shale gas reservoirs as part of a $1.5 million project for a three year time period.

The project has been funded by a consortium of nine oil and gas companies and the Research for Partnership to Secure Energy for America. The team has already completed one year of the project time period. Over the past one year, the team has made substantial discoveries leading to a greater knowledge and understanding about the behaviour of liquids and gases in shale gas reservoirs.

The development of the quad porosity model was the result of a previous project carried out by the same research team where they used scanning electron microscopy to indicate that shale gas reservoirs by four porosity systems. The inorganic and organic pore spaces are the important pore spaces that decide the method of storage and transport of the gas and liquids. The small size of the pores greatly influences the transport of gas and liquids. The research team has proved that the walls of the pore influence the behaviour of fluids in such a manner that gas condensates behave as wet or dry gases which in turn leads to a decreased condensate output.