Natural Gas Industry BPub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2026-02-09DOI: 10.1016/j.ngib.2026.01.002
Yuhang Zhang , Shangbin Chen , Yixuan Peng , Wei Lin , Xinyu Yang , Ni Pan , Yang Wang , Wei Ju
{"title":"Deflagration fracturing modification of nanoporous structure in the shale reservoirs of the Longmaxi Formation, Southern Sichuan, China","authors":"Yuhang Zhang , Shangbin Chen , Yixuan Peng , Wei Lin , Xinyu Yang , Ni Pan , Yang Wang , Wei Ju","doi":"10.1016/j.ngib.2026.01.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ngib.2026.01.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Methane in-situ deflagration fracturing in shale is a revolutionary anhydrous technology. This paper selects shale samples from the Longmaxi Formation in Southern Sichuan to conduct deflagration fracturing tests with pressures ranging from 25 MPa to 91 MPa. Pore structure changes were experimentally measured to explore the modification differences of nanoscale pore characteristics under varying deflagration pressures. The results show that within the deflagration pressure range examined in this study, (1) Deflagration fracturing can alter the pore volume and specific surface area but does not affect the distribution characteristics of the pore size's peak position. The maximum increments of total pore volume occur at a pressure of 45 MPa. (2) When the deflagration pressure is less than 45 MPa, porosity gradually increases with rising deflagration pressure. When it is greater than 45 MPa, the porosity does not change significantly. With increasing deflagration pressure, it gradually increases: from nanopores, such as mesopores and macropores, to large pores and microcracks. (3) At the low deflagration pressure stage, under the influence of high temperature, slippage pores gradually increase, which is conducive to gas desorption and diffusion migration. As pressure increases, the impact of the explosion shock wave gradually increases, the volume of seepage pores increases significantly, and seepage dominates the migration mode.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37116,"journal":{"name":"Natural Gas Industry B","volume":"13 1","pages":"Pages 30-43"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147387928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Natural Gas Industry BPub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2026-02-13DOI: 10.1016/j.ngib.2026.01.007
Bingbin Xie , Jingqiang Tan , Qiao Lyu , Chenger Hu , Xindong Li , Yonggang Ding , Gan Feng
{"title":"Nonlinear fluid flow regimes in fractured shale: Impact of confining stresses and water-supercritical CO2 interactions","authors":"Bingbin Xie , Jingqiang Tan , Qiao Lyu , Chenger Hu , Xindong Li , Yonggang Ding , Gan Feng","doi":"10.1016/j.ngib.2026.01.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ngib.2026.01.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The coupled chemo-mechanical impact of supercritical CO<sub>2</sub>–H<sub>2</sub>O (ScCO<sub>2</sub>–H<sub>2</sub>O) reactions on fracture geometry and nonlinear flow regimes in deep shale under confining pressures remains inadequately quantified. This study systematically investigates the effects of ScCO<sub>2</sub>–H<sub>2</sub>O–shale interactions on fracture morphology and flow properties under confining pressures from 15 MPa to 40 MPa by integrating XRD (X-ray diffraction), micro-CT, 3D surface profilometry, and multistage steady-state flow experiments. The results demonstrate that ScCO<sub>2</sub>–H<sub>2</sub>O exposure drives pyrite/feldspar dissolution and localized clay precipitation, resulting in fracture branching and macroscopic aperture regularization. Critically, confining pressure dictates the net hydraulic response: under low confining pressure (15–25 MPa), dissolution dominates, enhancing permeability, flow efficiency (<em>Q</em>/∇<em>P</em>), and pre-linear flow behavior (<em>n</em> < 1). At high confining pressures (30–40 MPa) mechanical compaction and mineral precipitation amplify flow resistance, shifting the flow regime toward quasi-linear behavior, as inertial effects become negligible compared to dominant viscous forces and increased flow resistance. Confining pressure thus critically mediates the dissolution–precipitation balance during ScCO<sub>2</sub>–H<sub>2</sub>O treatment, with an optimal window of 15–25 MPa identified for enhancing conductivity while minimizing clogging risk. These findings provide a quantitative framework for predicting stress-dependent flow evolution in chemically altered shale fractures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37116,"journal":{"name":"Natural Gas Industry B","volume":"13 1","pages":"Pages 44-59"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147427912","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Natural Gas Industry BPub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2026-02-13DOI: 10.1016/j.ngib.2026.01.004
Jiahang Li , Shengzhu Zhang , Xu Wang , Xu Cao , Jiashuai Wang , Zongzhi Wu
{"title":"Vertical gas dispersion from high-pressure pipeline failures: Characterizing hazardous cloud formation in open environments","authors":"Jiahang Li , Shengzhu Zhang , Xu Wang , Xu Cao , Jiashuai Wang , Zongzhi Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.ngib.2026.01.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ngib.2026.01.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines how natural gas disperses vertically when high-pressure pipelines with large openings fail in unconfined environments, providing insight into hazardous gas cloud development and behavior. A comprehensive study was conducted using a full-scale field experiment (1,219 mm diameter, 12 MPa pressure, 100 mm aperture) combined with a validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) numerical simulation model to systematically analyze the coupling effects of pipeline pressure and ambient wind speed. The results indicate that: (1) Pipeline pressure determines the vertical jet scale, where jet height is positively correlated with pressure; at 12 MPa, the maximum jet height reaches 69.4 m (approximately 2.65 times that at 4 MPa), and the lower explosive limit (LEL) cloud area follows a quadratic polynomial trend.(2) Ambient wind speed significantly alters the diffusion trajectory; at a wind speed of 10 m/s, the LEL gas cloud area expands by 1.69 times compared to calm conditions, while the jet height is suppressed to 29.9 % of the calm wind value.(3) Our developed dynamic prediction model for the hazardous gas-cloud region achieves a determination coefficient of 0.975 and maintaining prediction errors maintained within approximately 12 %. The proposed empirical correlations and dynamic prediction model provide essential quantitative data support for safety-distance design and emergency-response decision-making for high-pressure natural gas pipelines.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37116,"journal":{"name":"Natural Gas Industry B","volume":"13 1","pages":"Pages 111-127"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147387907","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Natural Gas Industry BPub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2025-12-22DOI: 10.1016/j.ngib.2025.12.001
Peng Liu , Xiaofeng Wang , Hanlin Liu , Juske Horita , Guoxiao Zhou , Hongping Bao , Ying Lin , Ruiliang Guo , Dongdong Zhang , Wenhui Liu
{"title":"Intramolecular carbon isotopic fractionation of propane via thermochemical sulfate reduction (TSR) in natural gas reservoirs","authors":"Peng Liu , Xiaofeng Wang , Hanlin Liu , Juske Horita , Guoxiao Zhou , Hongping Bao , Ying Lin , Ruiliang Guo , Dongdong Zhang , Wenhui Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.ngib.2025.12.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ngib.2025.12.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Thermochemical sulfate reduction (TSR) is an important organic–inorganic reaction that occurs within sedimentary basins and alters the original chemical compositions and isotopic structures of hydrocarbons in natural gases. We used the GC-Py-GC-IRMS method to study TSR and obtained a novel finding related to intramolecular carbon isotope fractionation in natural propane. The results show that the Δ<sub>C-T</sub> (δ<sup>13</sup>C<sub>central</sub>-δ<sup>13</sup>C<sub>terminal</sub>) and δ<sup>13</sup>C<sub>central</sub> values significantly increased to 44.7 ‰ and 11.9 ‰, respectively, with increasing TSR alteration. In contrast, the δ<sup>13</sup>C<sub>terminal</sub> values of propane remained largely unaltered by the TSR reaction. This difference in position-specific isotope fractionation can be attributed to the central carbon’s reactivity being higher than that of terminal carbon during TSR. In sum, the results indicate that the δ<sup>13</sup>C<sub>terminal</sub> values of propane can serve as robust indicators for source rock identification of natural gas altered by post-generation reactions such as TSR and anaerobic microbial oxidation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37116,"journal":{"name":"Natural Gas Industry B","volume":"13 1","pages":"Pages 1-8"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147387927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Natural Gas Industry BPub Date : 2025-12-01Epub Date: 2025-12-13DOI: 10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.002
Mingwei Zhao , Yizheng Zhang , Xiangjuan Meng , Xuguang Song , Yingnan Wang , Zixuan Wang , Caili Dai
{"title":"Development and performance of CO2-responsive foam fracturing fluid","authors":"Mingwei Zhao , Yizheng Zhang , Xiangjuan Meng , Xuguang Song , Yingnan Wang , Zixuan Wang , Caili Dai","doi":"10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>CO<sub>2</sub> foam fracturing fluid can effectively integrate CCUS technology into oil and gas field development, and its core advantages include low water consumption, excellent flowback performance, and strong sand-carrying capacity. For these reasons, it has received increasing attention in the oil and gas field development field. However, this type of fracturing fluid still has some prominent problems: The residue from gel breaking can easily cause formation pollution, the system cost is relatively high, and the utilization rate is low, which forms a significant technical bottleneck. In response to these issues, this study, based on the theory of clean fracturing fluid gel breaking without residue and the reusability of CO<sub>2</sub>-responsive wormlike micelles, innovatively combines CO<sub>2</sub>-responsive wormlike micelles with different types of surfactant-based foaming agents to construct a new CO<sub>2</sub>-responsive foam fracturing fluid system. A systematic performance evaluation of the system was conducted to clarify its defoaming rules under different temperature conditions. Compared with the traditional guar gum CO<sub>2</sub> foam fracturing fluid, the new system has significant performance advantages. At 90 °C, its foam comprehensive value reached 19720 mL·min, 6150 mL·min higher than the guar gum fluid. After a 5400 s high-temperature and high-shear test at the same temperature, the residual viscosity of the new system was 67 mPa·s, which is higher than the guar gum fluid. This CO<sub>2</sub>-responsive foam fracturing fluid simultaneously possesses the application potential of both clean fracturing fluid and foam fracturing fluid. It can effectively solve key problems such as formation pollution and low system utilization rates, and laboratory evaluation experiments confirmed its excellent foaming and rheological properties. These results are of great significance for promoting CO<sub>2</sub> foam fracturing technology to reach an advanced international level and supporting the low-carbon and high-efficiency development of unconventional oil and gas resources in China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37116,"journal":{"name":"Natural Gas Industry B","volume":"12 6","pages":"Pages 662-673"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145871744","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Natural Gas Industry BPub Date : 2025-12-01Epub Date: 2025-12-23DOI: 10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.001
Jiayi Wang , Shaohua Nie , Yu Gao , Peng Zheng , Zhihao Su , Jianqiang Sun , Dangfei Wang , Shouwei Zhou , Jiwei Wu
{"title":"Enhancing offshore oil and gas platform sustainability through wind-powered hydrogen production","authors":"Jiayi Wang , Shaohua Nie , Yu Gao , Peng Zheng , Zhihao Su , Jianqiang Sun , Dangfei Wang , Shouwei Zhou , Jiwei Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Decarbonizing offshore oil and gas platforms has become a critical challenge in the energy transition. In this article, we propose the following two models for decarbonizing offshore oil and gas platforms to facilitate highly challenging energy transitions: (1) repurposing decommissioned platforms as offshore wind–hydrogen hubs and (2) integrating offshore wind power and hydrogen production systems into operational platforms. This study is conducted to systematically assess the feasibility of the proposed models and further examine their technological challenges, systemic risks, and possible mitigation pathways. The results showed that wind turbines, reverse osmosis desalination, and alkaline water electrolysis have high levels of maturity, whereas subsea hydrogen pipelines and liquid/compressed hydrogen carriers remain comparatively immature. Both models can significantly lower costs, strengthen energy resilience, and reduce emissions. However, large-scale deployment is generally constrained by high capital costs, integration complexity, and fragmented regulatory frameworks. The findings highlight that reusing offshore infrastructure to integrate offshore wind power and hydrogen production systems offers cost and environmental advantages over conventional decommissioning, while integrated supply systems can ensure long-term stability through multi-energy complementarity. The study provides strategic insights for advancing low-carbon transformation and guiding the sustainable and resilient development of offshore energy systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37116,"journal":{"name":"Natural Gas Industry B","volume":"12 6","pages":"Pages 734-749"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145871804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Natural Gas Industry BPub Date : 2025-12-01Epub Date: 2025-12-18DOI: 10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.007
Xiang'an Lu , Shanshan Chen , Zhen Dong , Jin Sun , Liangliang Jiang
{"title":"Research progress on numerical simulation methods and models for underground coal gasification","authors":"Xiang'an Lu , Shanshan Chen , Zhen Dong , Jin Sun , Liangliang Jiang","doi":"10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Coal underground gasification (UCG) transforms the physical extraction of coal into the chemical extraction of gas, which is effective for exploiting deep coal deposits. Numerical simulation technology for UCG is a crucial tool for studying the complex processes involved in coal gasification. This study was conducted to determine the direction in which UCG numerical simulation is developing, specifically by reviewing the research progress and achievements made in this area and identifying the existing problems and future research directions. The findings indicate the following: (1) Research has focused on the reaction issues of coal underground gasification, considering mass and heat transfer effects and gasification cavity expansion. Chemical equilibrium, gasification block, packed bed, and gasification channel models have been developed, which have certain advantages in solving gasification reaction problems influenced by cavity structure and reasonable simplifications capable of describing local issues. (2) The dynamic description of gasification cavity structures is a challenging problem that UCG numerical simulation needs to address. The cavity expansion mechanism includes thermochemical consumption, coal spalling, roof collapse, and debris accumulation. Thermochemical consumption causes the mechanical properties of coal and rock to change, leading to spalling under stress. (3) Process models emphasize dynamic simulations of the gasification process, including cavity evolution and gasification products. The reactor combination model, continuous medium equivalent model, and multimodule integration model are primarily used. (4) Future UCG numerical simulation technology development will prioritize modularity, systematization, and intelligence. There is an urgent need to facilitate the chemical reaction kinetics of large coal blocks, the coupling of discontinuous media, and the integration of multifunctional systems, including that of numerical simulation technology with artificial intelligence. With continuous improvements, numerical simulation technology will play a greater technical supporting role in UCG industrialization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37116,"journal":{"name":"Natural Gas Industry B","volume":"12 6","pages":"Pages 718-733"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145871805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Natural Gas Industry BPub Date : 2025-12-01Epub Date: 2025-12-15DOI: 10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.004
Xiucheng Dong , Qi Gong , Yang Li , Zhaoyang Kong
{"title":"The process and trends of China's energy transition and the strategic repositioning of natural gas","authors":"Xiucheng Dong , Qi Gong , Yang Li , Zhaoyang Kong","doi":"10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>China's pursuit of its dual carbon goal has turned the country's energy transition and the role of natural gas into key concerns for policymakers and researchers. This study adopts a macro-level analytical approach when reviewing national energy and climate policies together with recent data to assess energy-transition progress and the role of gas in this transition. The study's main findings are as follows: (1) China's energy transition has made clear progress in terms of targets, institutions, and the energy mix; however, it continues to face major problems, such as coal dependence, a rigid industrial structure, and weak incentives for low-carbon energy. In addition, a basic transition pathway is taking shape marked by five main trends: advancing the dual-carbon goals, building a new energy system, developing a new power system, implementing carbon-emission dual control, and improving the national carbon market; (2) The historical evolution of Chinese natural gas industry shows that gas is now mainly positioned as a clean fuel whose core function is to replace coal and improve environmental quality; (3) In the future energy transition, the role of natural gas can be defined: a buffer for energy security, a flexible resource for balancing the power system, and an important source of low-carbon hydrogen and chemical feedstocks. Overall, the study concludes that policy efforts should focus on strengthening the multiple functions of natural gas under tight carbon emission constraints to better support China's long-term low-carbon development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37116,"journal":{"name":"Natural Gas Industry B","volume":"12 6","pages":"Pages 750-765"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145871741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Natural Gas Industry BPub Date : 2025-12-01Epub Date: 2025-12-16DOI: 10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.003
Dongchen Liu , Jianfa Wu , Shengxian Zhao , Xuanhe Tang , Deliang Zhang , Qian Wang , Shan Huang , Chenglin Zhang , Peng Tan
{"title":"Experimental study on hydraulic fracture propagation in middle-deep shale gas reservoirs in the southern Sichuan Basin: The effects of vertical heterogeneity","authors":"Dongchen Liu , Jianfa Wu , Shengxian Zhao , Xuanhe Tang , Deliang Zhang , Qian Wang , Shan Huang , Chenglin Zhang , Peng Tan","doi":"10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>During the hydraulic fracturing of shale gas in the southern Sichuan Basin, China, field monitoring data have shown that hydraulic fracture (HF) propagation is restricted by height and cannot sufficiently cover vertical pay layers. The geomechanical behavior of gas shale in this region creates heterogeneity between the layers, which is responsible for the height restriction of HF propagation and limits the safe and efficient development of shale gas reservoirs in this region. To study vertical HF propagation, we conducted a series of laboratory hydraulic fracturing experiments under true triaxial loading. Three kinds of heterogeneity factors were tested: stress, elasticity, and interface strength. Analysis of fracture morphology and injection pressure curves resulted in several findings: (1) four types of vertical HF shapes emerged: I-shape, restricted I-shape, T-shape, and H-shape; (2) HF was induced by weakly cemented interface(s) with height limitations, while a layer under larger stress (e.g., 6 MPa) restricted fracture propagation in the middle layers, and heterogeneous elasticity was resistant; (3) regarding the geomechanical status of Changning middle-deep gas shale, interface strength may be more significant than fracture height. This study demonstrates the role of vertical heterogeneity in limiting fracture height and provides theoretical support for hydraulic fracturing optimization in this region.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37116,"journal":{"name":"Natural Gas Industry B","volume":"12 6","pages":"Pages 705-717"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145871803","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Natural Gas Industry BPub Date : 2025-12-01Epub Date: 2025-12-16DOI: 10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.005
Fei Liu , Ze Li , Jian Min , Yang Peng , Huan Peng , Songhai Qin , Yuntao Liu , Jian Xiong , Ruowen Yu
{"title":"Wellbore stability analysis considering rock damage mechanics theory: An integrated experimental and numerical study","authors":"Fei Liu , Ze Li , Jian Min , Yang Peng , Huan Peng , Songhai Qin , Yuntao Liu , Jian Xiong , Ruowen Yu","doi":"10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ngib.2025.11.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Conventional geostress evaluation methods often assume static rock properties and neglect the dynamic degradation of mechanical parameters caused by damage evolution during drilling and fracturing processes, which significantly limits prediction accuracy. To address this gap, this study develops a multiphysics-coupled numerical framework integrating COMSOL Multiphysics and MATLAB, grounded in damage mechanics theory, to quantitatively investigate the control mechanism of progressive rock damage on geostress redistribution. By establishing a damage constitutive model coupled with thermo-hydro-mechanical interactions, we simulate the dynamic evolution of rock damage and its impact on stress field reorganization during wellbore operations. Key results demonstrate that (1) incorporating damage evolution leads to substantial deviations in both the magnitude and spatial distribution of geostress, with stress perturbations highly localized within damage zones; (2) changes in mechanical parameters—particularly elastic modulus and permeability—dominate stress adjustments, with heightened sensitivity in formations with low elastic moduli and high permeability; and (3) Poisson's ratio has a negligible influence, whereas permeability variation becomes critically important in low-stiffness formations. Field validation via leakage case analyses in the Wujiaping Formation confirms that the proposed method significantly enhances prediction accuracy compared with conventional approaches. This work elucidates the multiscale interdependency between damage and stress evolution by offering a physics-based framework to optimize drilling and stimulation design in heterogeneous reservoirs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37116,"journal":{"name":"Natural Gas Industry B","volume":"12 6","pages":"Pages 674-688"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145871745","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}