Effects of Supercritical CO(2) on the Pore Structure Complexity of High-Rank Coal with Water Participation and the Implications for CO(2) ECBM

[Image: see text] To reveal how mineral changes affect a coal pore structure in the presence of water, an autoclave was used to carry out the supercritical CO(2) (ScCO(2))-H(2)O-coal interaction process. To reveal the changes in pore complexity, mercury intrusion capillary pressure (MICP), low-pressure nitrogen adsorption, CO(2) adsorption, and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) experiments were combined with fractal theory. The experimental data of MICP show that the MICP data are meaningful only for the pore fractal dimension with pore sizes >150 nm. Therefore, the pores were classified into the classes >150, 2–150, and <2 nm. The results show that the pore volume and specific surface area of the coal increased significantly after the reaction. ScCO(2)-H(2)O can cause the formation of many new pores and fractures in the coal. The presence of H(2)O may increase the potential for the injection of CO(2) into the coal seam. The complete dissolution of calcite surfaces caused a significant increase in the pore volume and specific surface area of the pores >150 nm. The morphologies of these pores are controlled by the morphologies of the complete dissolution carbonate particles. The pore morphologies were relatively uniform, and the fractal dimensions decreased. However, the incomplete dissolution of calcite leads to irregular variations in the morphologies for the pores in the 2–150 nm pore size range. The pore morphologies that are produced by incompletely dissolved calcite particles are more complex, which increases the fractal dimensions after the reaction. The fractal dimensions of the pores <2 nm decreased after the reaction, indicating that the newly generated micropores were more uniform and had regular pore morphologies.