Transport Properties of Aqueous Methane Solutions and Blocking Behavior of Intelligent-Responsive Temporary Plugging Agent in a Switchable Nano-channel: A Dissipative Particle Dynamics Simulation Study.

Abstract

Intelligent-responsive temporary plugging agents (TPAs) have great potential in the field of oil and gas resource extraction due to their self-adaptability to the environment. However, the transport mechanism of oil and gas molecules, such as aqueous methane solution in intelligent-responsive TPA-modified nano-channels and the blocking behavior of TPA, have not been verified yet. In this work, dissipative particle dynamics simulations (DPD) are conducted to investigate the velocity distribution and the force characteristics of aqueous methane solutions under different driving velocities, as well as the blocking effect of TPA to the flow of solution. Simulation results indicate that aqueous methane solution primarily concentrates in the uncovered area of the TPA and diffuses into the TPA-covered area when the nano-channel is closed. The velocity distribution of the flowing solution in the open nano-channel follows a subparabolic pattern. Methane molecules in the closed nano-channel show sharp oscillations in velocity and force profiles, which can be mitigated by increasing the methane concentration. The designed TPA effectively blocks fluid flow but its head and tail are vulnerable to the shear forces from the fluid. This study enhances the understanding of the nanoflows in the wellbores during the extraction of oil and natural gas resources.