Abstract
In this study, a group of overmature coal-measure shale core samples was collected in situ from an exploration well located in the Wuxiang area of the Qinshui Basin, north China. The pore water contents (CPW) of the shales under as-received conditions, equilibrium water contents (CEW) of the shales under moisture equilibrium conditions (relative humidity: 100%), and nanopore structures of the shales under both as-received and dried conditions were measured. The results indicate that the CPW values of these shales are much lower than their CEW values, which implies that the bulk pore systems of these shales have low water-bearing extents. In addition, approximately half of the total pore volumes and surface areas of the as-received shales are occupied by pore water, and the effects of pore water on shale nanopores with various pore types and widths are different. The average water-occupied percentages (PW) are 59.16%–81.99% and 42.53%–43.44% for the non-micropores and micropores, respectively, and are 83.54%–97.69% and 19.57%–26.42% for the inorganic-matter hosted (IM) and organic-matter hosted (OM) pores, respectively. The pore water in shales not only significantly reduces the storage of shale gas by occupying many pore spaces, but also causes the shale gas, especially the absorbed gas, to be mostly stored in the OM pores; meanwhile, the IM pores mainly store free gas. Therefore, the water-bearing characteristics and their effects on the pore structures and gas-bearing properties of coal-measure shales should be noted for the evaluation and exploration of shale gas in the Qinshui Basin.
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Abbreviations
- C PW :
-
pore water content
- C EW :
-
equilibrium water content
- E PW :
-
pore water equilibrium extent
- OM:
-
organic-matter hosted
- IM:
-
inorganic-matter hosted
- S mic :
-
micropore surface area
- V mic :
-
micropore volume
- S non :
-
non-micropore surface area
- V non :
-
non-micropore volume
- S total :
-
total pore surface area
- V total :
-
total pore volume
- R o :
-
vitrinite reflectance value
- T max :
-
maximum cracking temperature
- HI:
-
hydrogen index
- OI:
-
oxygen index
- XRD:
-
X-ray diffraction
- P W :
-
percentage of water-occupied pore structure
- P E :
-
percentage of effective pore structure
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. U1810201 and 41925014), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. 2021A1515011381). This is contribution No.IS-3341 from GIGCAS.
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Cheng, P., Xiao, X., Tian, H. et al. Water-bearing characteristics and their effects on the nanopores of overmature coal-measure shales in the Wuxiang area of the Qinshui Basin, north China. Front. Earth Sci. 17, 273–292 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-022-0988-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-022-0988-z