Abstract:
CO
2-enhanced coalbed methane recovery (CO
2-ECBM) is a key method for CO
2 geological utilization and sequestration. It holds promise for addressing challenges such as soft, low-permeability coal seams with difficult gas extraction, poor development performance, rapid production decline, and low recovery rates, as exemplified by the Huainan mining area. The geochemical interactions of CO
2 injection into coal seams and inorganic minerals in coal can alter the pore-fracture structure and permeability of the coal, significantly influencing CO
2 sequestration capacity and methane production enhancement. Therefore, considering the effects of effective stress, temperature, and geochemical interactions—including competitive adsorption, diffusion, seepage of CO
2 and CH
4, and CO
2-water-coal geochemical interactions, as well as their impact on the dynamic evolution of coal seam porosity and permeability—a fully coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical mathematical model was developed for the seepage-stress-temperature-chemical interactions in CO
2-injected coal reservoirs. Numerical simulation studies on CO
2-ECBM were conducted for the Huainan coalfield to analyze the effect of geochemical interactions on CH
4 production enhancement during CO
2 injection, as well as the influence of injection pressure, initial permeability, and water saturation on CH
4 production and CO
2 sequestration. The results showed a high degree of consistency between the mathematical model and experimental outcomes, with the average error range for CH
4 and CO
2 mixture volumetric fractions and production rates falling within 1%−10%. Compared to scenarios ignoring CO
2-water-coal geochemical interactions, the cumulative CH
4 production decreased by 11%, while cumulative CO
2 storage increased by 19.8%, indicating that neglecting geochemical interactions could lead to an overestimation of CH
4 production and underestimation of CO
2 storage capacity. Higher injection pressures and initial permeability of coal reservoirs resulted in more significant CH
4 production enhancement and CO
2 sequestration, whereas high water saturation adversely affected both processes. These findings suggest that CO
2-ECBM should be tailored to reservoir properties, optimizing target layers and injection strategies to maximize CH
4 production and CO
2 storage. Geochemical interactions were found to alleviate the reservoir pressure increase caused by CO
2 injection, reduce the free-state CO
2 content in fractures. This, in turn, mitigated permeability decline due to stress-strain effects, promoting permeability recovery by 2.4%−3.3%. The permeability recovery further facilitated pressure transmission, CO
2 adsorption, and CH
4 desorption/diffusion, ultimately enhancing CH
4 production and CO
2 sequestration efficiency.