Relative Permeability in Coal. This project aims to deliver a better model for coal relative permeability to improve the management of coal seam gas reservoirs. Coal relative permeability is a key factor in reservoir models; however, current understanding of relative permeability is wrong for coal systems and predictions based on it are misleading. Relative permeability is currently carried over from conventional gas reservoirs as a function of the degree of water saturation only. This misunders ....Relative Permeability in Coal. This project aims to deliver a better model for coal relative permeability to improve the management of coal seam gas reservoirs. Coal relative permeability is a key factor in reservoir models; however, current understanding of relative permeability is wrong for coal systems and predictions based on it are misleading. Relative permeability is currently carried over from conventional gas reservoirs as a function of the degree of water saturation only. This misunderstands the physical differences between coal and other rocks as gas reservoirs, fails to recognise the determinants of coal relative permeability, and misrepresents the flow system. This project seeks to provide a phenomenologically-based understanding and functional relationship for coal-relative permeability based on the principles than govern physical flow interactions.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE110100205
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$150,000.00
Summary
A novel high-pressure system for multiple gas adsorption. This facility will equip researchers with analytical capabilities for research in the field of multi-gas adsorption. The facility will be of great significance to clean energy research, such as greenhouse gas emission control and hydrogen production and storage.
Vaporization of heavier gas oil in Fluid Catalytic Cracking risers. Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) is an important refinery operation responsible for about 45 per cent of the total petrol produced. The project is aimed at improving production efficiency of Australian refineries by applying fundamental modelling to the FCC. The outcomes will enable refiners to produce cleaner fuel and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
Structural modelling of silicon carbide-derived microporous carbon and its application in carbon dioxide capture from moist gases. The project will deliver a powerful new tool for determining the nanostructure of carbons, and will advance the modelling of fluid equilibrium, accessibility and transport within this structure. The outcomes will be crucial to the development of emerging technologies in nanofluidics, gas and electrochemical energy storage, and gas separation.
Selective wellbore coatings to control fines damage in coal seam gas wells. This project aims to develop a completely new approach to control solids production in coal seam gas wellbores using a selective phase-inversion polymer coating. The approach will take advantage of the low permeability of mudrocks to form a protective barrier across clay-rich layers while remaining permeable across the gas-producing coal seams. The production of fine solids is a key technical issue affecting the producti ....Selective wellbore coatings to control fines damage in coal seam gas wells. This project aims to develop a completely new approach to control solids production in coal seam gas wellbores using a selective phase-inversion polymer coating. The approach will take advantage of the low permeability of mudrocks to form a protective barrier across clay-rich layers while remaining permeable across the gas-producing coal seams. The production of fine solids is a key technical issue affecting the productivity of coal seam gas wells in Queensland, and leads to 10-15 days’ production downtime a year. The expected outcomes of the project include fundamental understanding of the solids breakage phenomena, a predictive tool to classify potential solids risks in coal seam gas wells, and a novel rock-selective wellbore coating technology to control solids production. The potential economic impacts from the project are lower gas production costs and improved gas supply security.Read moreRead less
Enhanced productivity of coal seam gas wells by continuous gas circulation. This project aims to develop foam assisted continuous gas circulation for dewatering new and existing coal seam gas wells. The potential benefits of this new method include enhanced gas production, better well control, reduced costs and better environmental effectiveness. The proposed solution eliminates the need for mechanical pumps which are currently used for dewatering, and which fail regularly due to gas and solids ....Enhanced productivity of coal seam gas wells by continuous gas circulation. This project aims to develop foam assisted continuous gas circulation for dewatering new and existing coal seam gas wells. The potential benefits of this new method include enhanced gas production, better well control, reduced costs and better environmental effectiveness. The proposed solution eliminates the need for mechanical pumps which are currently used for dewatering, and which fail regularly due to gas and solids accumulation within the production wells. Continuous gas circulation could achieve significant savings in downtime and maintenance costs. In addition, reducing onsite maintenance will minimise access requirements for maintenance rigs which disrupt rural activities where the wells are located, thus easing local traffic and reduce the environmental impacts that are associated with well workovers.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100213
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$180,000.00
Summary
x-ray transparent core flood apparatus . X-ray transparent core flood apparatus: This facility is a novel X-ray transparent flow vessel and ancillaries for achieving direct, near-real-time, 3D measurement and visualisation of material flow inside rock samples. It will enable direct evaluation of how liquid, liquid-solid, gas-liquid and gas-liquid-solid flows behave in cores replicating conditions in underground reservoirs. The coal seam gas, shale gas and oil, and geothermal energy recovery rely ....x-ray transparent core flood apparatus . X-ray transparent core flood apparatus: This facility is a novel X-ray transparent flow vessel and ancillaries for achieving direct, near-real-time, 3D measurement and visualisation of material flow inside rock samples. It will enable direct evaluation of how liquid, liquid-solid, gas-liquid and gas-liquid-solid flows behave in cores replicating conditions in underground reservoirs. The coal seam gas, shale gas and oil, and geothermal energy recovery rely on precise understanding and simulation of subsurface flow. This apparatus will provide a new method to measure and visualise otherwise inaccessible flow behaviour, at a high level of detail, providing characterisation and model validation data underpinning reservoir simulations.Read moreRead less
Methanol to diesel. Australia has large remote gas reserves which are not accessible to markets via pipeline and cannot be effectively utilised using liquefied natural gas technology. Fischer-Tropsch conversion of gas to liquid (GTL), being capital intense, is uneconomical for these stranded gas resources. This project will develop a new GTL technology to produce sulphur-free, clean combustion diesel. The outcomes of this research will be a frontier technology that allows more effective utilisat ....Methanol to diesel. Australia has large remote gas reserves which are not accessible to markets via pipeline and cannot be effectively utilised using liquefied natural gas technology. Fischer-Tropsch conversion of gas to liquid (GTL), being capital intense, is uneconomical for these stranded gas resources. This project will develop a new GTL technology to produce sulphur-free, clean combustion diesel. The outcomes of this research will be a frontier technology that allows more effective utilisation of Australian remote gas resources to meet rising global demand for transport fuels, adding enormous value to Australian natural resources and contributing to Building and Transforming Australian industries.Read moreRead less
Hydrodynamics of Bubble Column Reactors. This project will study the hydrodynamics of bubble columns with the aim of optimising these reactors for offshore gas-to-liquid plants. Along with experiments using the state-of-art techniques such as the particle image velocimetry, radioactive particle tracking, electrical capacitance tomography and optical probes, computational fluid dynamics simulations will be conducted to gain a deeper insight into bubble-induced turbulence and regime transitions in ....Hydrodynamics of Bubble Column Reactors. This project will study the hydrodynamics of bubble columns with the aim of optimising these reactors for offshore gas-to-liquid plants. Along with experiments using the state-of-art techniques such as the particle image velocimetry, radioactive particle tracking, electrical capacitance tomography and optical probes, computational fluid dynamics simulations will be conducted to gain a deeper insight into bubble-induced turbulence and regime transitions in these reactors. This information will then be used to devise scale-up strategies of these complex and industrially important equipment.Read moreRead less
Advanced environmental technologies for increasing coal seam permeability. This project aims to understand the physical/chemical mechanisms occurring when benign chemicals interact and dissolve minerals and coal surfaces in the natural fractures during the extraction of coal seam gas. Technologies for increasing the permeability of coal have become necessary for commercially viable coal seam gas (CSG) extraction in Australia. Currently available methods from the conventional gas industry, are pr ....Advanced environmental technologies for increasing coal seam permeability. This project aims to understand the physical/chemical mechanisms occurring when benign chemicals interact and dissolve minerals and coal surfaces in the natural fractures during the extraction of coal seam gas. Technologies for increasing the permeability of coal have become necessary for commercially viable coal seam gas (CSG) extraction in Australia. Currently available methods from the conventional gas industry, are problematic for coal, and fail to capitalise on coal’s existing fracture network. The intended project outcome is a range of new coal-specific technologies for enhancing permeability that avoid unwanted and irreversible damage to seams and protect the environment. Combined with reduced costs, these methods would benefit sustainable growth of Australia’s CSG industry.Read moreRead less