Effects of fractures on the well production in a coalbed methane reservoir

A water-gas two-phase flow model of a fractured vertical well in a coalbed methane (CBM) reservoir is developed based on the Buckley-Leverett equation. A program is developed based on the proposed model to predict the production of a CBM well. Compared with the monitoring results of an actual vertical fractured well, the accuracy and reliability of the analytical model are approved. The impact of reservoir parameters and fracture parameters on the CBM production are quantitatively studied. The results indicate that the production is affected by the three major factors: gas supply capacity of the matrix (viz., CBM volume released by unit volume of matrix during unit time), supply capacity of the fracture network to the major fracture, and gas exhausting ability of the major fracture to the wellbore. The permeability, matrix radius, and coal seam thickness with larger values are good for the gas supply capacity of the matrix. Higher flow conductivity of major fracture shows a stronger impact on the gas exhausting ability of the major fracture to the wellbore. A smaller fracture interval is beneficial to the supply capacity of the fracture network to the major fracture to obtain higher production. To improve the efficiency of the actual well, the flow conductivity of the major fracture should be no more than 200 mD m and the crack interval should be between 20 and 30 m. The achievements of this study provide a case reference for the production prediction of vertical fractured wells and the optimization design of hydraulic fracture parameters of CBM reservoirs.