Enhanced coalbed methane recovery by microwave-induced thermal fracture

Abstract The investigation on microwave-induced permeabilization and response of coal under microwave heating is of great significance for the industrial application of microwave heating technology instead of traditional heating in coalbed methane mining. Santanghu coal is used as a sample to measure the permeability and porosity of coal samples before and after microwave heating. The fracture changes of coal samples before and after heating are compared to observe the penetration effect of microwaves on coal samples. Based on the technology of directional drilling and continuous tubing technology in petroleum engineering, a technology of increasing the production of coalbed methane by microwave heating in a wide range of coal seams is proposed. The feasibility of this enhanced production method is validated through COMSOL Multiphysics simulations, which model the temperature field distribution within coal seams under various microwave parameters. This approach highlights the potential of microwave technology in coalbed methane recovery. The results show that: (1) the thermal field of coal samples under microwave heating is inhomogeneous. The average length and area of the cracks of the coal samples increased under microwave radiation, and the cracking of the coal samples confirmed the cracking effect of microwaves on the coal samples. (2) With prolonged microwave heating, coal samples exhibit an initial decrease followed by an increase in porosity and permeability, a trend attributed to the expansion of solid particles that occupy and reduce pore spaces. (3) The in-situ microwave heating technique for coalbed methane extraction overcomes the challenges of long-distance microwave transmission loss and methane backflow in transmission pipelines, utilizing continuous pipelines for extensive microwave heating of coal seams. (4) The microwave power and intermittent heating duration have a significant effect on the temperature field distribution of the coal seam, and when the heating duration is 60 days, 1600 W is used to have an effective temperature field distribution while avoiding the waste of heat. When the power is constant at 1600 W, the effective temperature range is wider when the intermittent heating duration is 60 days.