Essay on Simulation of Shale Gas Flow in Nano Pores with parallel Lattice Boltzmann Method

In this paper, there is complete information about the simulation of the Shale gas flow that can be used in the Nanopores. At the start of the paper, the author has given information about Shale gas and where this gas can be found on earth and then the main characteristics of the Shale reservoir. It can be noted that these characteristics are extremely important for the simulation of this gas. 

Then after this, there is some information about the main objectives of the simulation of this gas. The main objective is that the implementation of PLBM on the software application for the verification of the main algorithms. Then after this, there is a comprehensive study on the factors that are affecting this gas flow in the tube. In the last, there is a complete simulation of this gas according to the digital rock sample with the help of digital image processing. 

Then after this, the author has implemented the parallel lattice  Boltzmann method before the simulation of this gas. Before applying this method, the author has checked the mesoscopic  quantities of this gas in a proper way that can be implemented as 

f_i (x+e_i,t+1)=f_i (x,t)+Ω(f_i (x,t))

Ω_i (f_i (x,t))=1/τ (f_i (x,t))-f_i^eq (x,t)

f_i^eq (x,t)=ρ(x,t) w_i [1+3 (e_i.u)/c^2 +9/2  (e_i.u)^2/c^4 -3/2  u^2/c^2 ]

Then after this, he has checked the relationship between the Kn and t for the analysis of this method. In the last step, the author has evaluated the boundary conditions for this method. It can be noted that for this method, hybrid boundary conditions are analyzed. 

Moreover, after the method, the author has presented the flow chart of PLBM that is consisted of the geometry of the rock. The next part is related to its efficiency, and the author has explained all the important points about the verification of the PLBM method. For that, he has defined the size of the Grid with proper dimension and also gives a model number with reliable boundary conditions. The author has provided the value of efficiency through the help of a regular graph. It can be noted that there is a quite linear relationship between the number of cores and also the speedup ration of the rocks. 

Furthermore, the author has also presented a proper analytical solution of the rock cores in detail with proper labeling. After this, the next part of the paper is extremely important. The main reason is that the author has given the information about the experimental data just after the verification of PLBM. Moreover, after this, there are some flow simulation results about the sandstones, and its results are produced through the help of CT scanning. 

In the results and analysis section of the report, the author has explained some of the main factors that are affecting the Shale gas flow in the Nanotube. It can be noted that these factors are effecting the nature of the gas that includes rarefaction effect, roughness, and velocity slip. Then according to these results, the author has presented the digital shale sample of this gas that is giving information about how there is an enhancement in the molecules of gas. The result section of this report is quite comprehensive, and the author has mentioned every factor in detail. There is also a clear observation of the velocity anisotropy of the shale gas (Sun, Tao and Vega). 

Sun, Huafeng, Guo Tao and Sandra Vega. "Simulation of Shale Gas Flow in Nano Pores with Parallel Lattice Boltzmann Method." The Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2015).