A Model for Changes in Coalbed Permeability During Primary and Enhanced Methane Recovery

Summary The natural fracture network of a dual-porosity coalbed reservoir is made up of two sets of orthogonal, and usually subvertically oriented, cleats. Coalbed permeability has been shown to vary exponentially with changes in the effective horizontal stress acting across the cleats through the cleat-volume compressibility, which is analogous to pore compressibility in porous rocks. A formulation for changes in the effective horizontal stress...