Comparison of pore characteristics in the coal and shale reservoirs of Taiyuan Formation, Qinshui Basin, China

Abstract

Coal and shale are both unconventional gas reservoirs. Comparison of pore characteristics in shale and coal would help understand organic pore structure in shale and investigate co-exploration of shale gas and coalbed methane in coal bearing strata. In this study, five shale samples and three coal samples of Taiyuan Formation were collected from Qinshui Basin, China. High pressure mercury injection, scanning electronic microscopy, and fractal theory have been used to compare pore characteristics in shale and coal. The results show that pore volumes in coal are much larger than that in shale, especially pores 3–100 nm. In coal, there are many semi-closed pores in micro pores (<10 nm) and transition pores (10–100 nm). On the contrary, micro pores and transition pores are mainly with open pores in shale. The fractal curves show that pores larger than 65 nm in coal and shale reservoir both have obvious self-similarity and the fractal dimension values in shale and coal are similar. But the fractal characteristics of pores smaller than 65 nm in shale reservoir are quite different from that in coal.