The lattice Boltzmann method for isothermal micro-gaseous flow and its application in shale gas flow: a review

The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has experienced tremendous advances and been well accepted as a popular method of simulation of various fluid flow mechanisms on pore scale in tight formations. With the introduction of an effective relaxation time and slip boundary conditions, the LBM has been successfully extended to solve micro-gaseous related transport and phenomena. As gas flow in shale matrix is mostly in the slip flow and transition flow regimes, given the difficulties of experimental techniques to determine extremely low permeability, it appears that the computational methods especially the LBM can be an attractive choice for simulation of these micro-gaseous flows. In this paper an extensive overview on a number of relaxation time and boundary conditions used in LBM-like models for micro-gaseous flow are carried out and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. Furthermore, potential application of the LBM in flow simulation in shale gas reservoirs on pore scale and representative elementary volume(REV) scale is evaluated and summarised. Our review indicates that the LBM is capable of capturing gas flow in continuum to slip flow regimes which cover significant proportion of the pores in shale gas reservoirs and identifies opportunities for future research.