Abstract:
Coal slime output poses a common challenge during the coalbed methane drainage process, leading to a decrease in coalbed methane well productivity. The coal slime samples of low-yield coalbed methane wells in No. 15 coalbed methane field of Jincheng mining area in Qinshui Basin are selected. A high-efficiency suspension-carrying coal slime plugging agent material is compounded through static suspension experiments and foam stability evaluations. The permeability change test in the supporting fracture and the plugging removal experiment of deposited coal slime in the wellbore are carried out. A novel plugging agent nitrogen foam positive and negative multiple circulation well washing process is proposed to promote the removal of the deposited coal slime. This process is supported by specialized equipment including a flexible self-steering continuous operation device, continuous oil tube end resistance flushing tip, and ball-throwing type high-energy bidirectional flushing nozzles. The approach developed here has been successfully implemented in low-production wells in Jincheng mining area. The results show that the suspension rate of coal slime exceeded 95%, and the foam carrying coal slime time was extended beyond 90 minutes using a plugging agent formulation consisting of 0.8% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), 0.4% potassium chloride (KCl), and 0.8% fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether ammonium sulfate (AESA). The gas phase permeability in the supporting fracture under the action of the plugging agent is about 0.9~1.8 times higher than that under the action of water, and the liquid phase permeability is about 1.5~1.8 times higher than that under the action of water. With the increase of the flow rate of the injected coal slime plugging agent, the discharge rate of coal slime gradually increased. With the increase of coal slime retention, the discharge rate of coal slime is gradually decreasing. The discharge rate of deposited coal slime under the action of plugging agent can reach 45.30%~92.13%, which is 1.05~3.55 times that under the action of water. When the retention concentration of coal slime is 10%, the discharge rate is further increased by more than 40% again after three cycles of well washing and plugging removal, and the cumulative slime discharge rate can reach 92.58%. The technology has been applied to four typical low-yield coalbed methane wells, and the average gas production of the four coalbed methane horizontal wells after well washing has increased by about 3.6 times compared with that before well washing.