Permeability of the Hydrated Shale under Cyclic Loading and Unloading Conditions

Abstract

The hydrated shales under cyclic loading and unloading conditions are common for the shale reservoir development; corresponding mechanical properties and permeability evolution are very significant and should be deeply researched. Firstly, the experiments of the hydrated shales under the above conditions are discussed, showing that the peak strength is lower and corresponding permeability is higher for more days of hydrating treatment. Secondly, the damage theory is proposed to analyze the shale permeability evolution due to hydromechanical damage and get permeability variation under initial loading and unloading conditions, observing that the permeability in the loading process decreases with increasing confining pressure and increases in the unloading process with decreasing confining pressure; however, the former changes much greater than the latter considering the same confining pressure, indicating that the irreversible damage for the hydrated shales in this cyclic condition has resulted in obvious difference of the permeability. Furthermore, the curves between the permeability and confining pressure based on the experimental data are fitted as negative exponential functions under initial loading conditions and power functions under more cyclic loading conditions, showing that more loading process will change the permeability evolution model. However, the permeability while unloading changes smoothly and can be fitted as a power function with the confining pressure. And in addition, the loss ratio and recovery ratio of the permeability have been deeply researched under five cyclic loading and unloading conditions, thoroughly explaining the permeability decreasing variation with more cyclic processes. Finally, the sensitive coefficients of the permeability have been investigated to observe the largest coefficients under initial cyclic conditions and less and less with more cyclic processes, especially the coefficients while loading which are more sensitive to lower confining pressure and smaller while unloading, which is in accordance with the shale permeability loss and recovery variation, revealing the permeability evolution of the hydrated shale under complex extracted environment.