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The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has presented the expected resource conditions and work foundations for a large-scale coalbed methane (CBM) exploration and development, which shows that its CBM resources below the depth of 2000 m are 7.5 trillion m3, 450 CBM wells have been constructed, and the annual gas production has approached to 80 million m3. Xinjiang has put forward the goal of the annual CBM production of 2.5 billion m3 in 2025. Therefore, the large-scale and efficient development of CBM in Xinjiang has become an urgent and significant demand. In this paper, the main research progresses of Xinjiang CBM made in five key technical fields have been systematically summarized, including the CBM enrichment model and area optimization technology, the prediction and detection technology for sweet spot distribution, the technological strategy of the accelerated rolling development and rapid increase of reserves and productions, the geological adaptation technology system, and the cooperative exploration and development of CBM with coal, oil and gas. Then, the potential breakthrough directions have been analyzed and proposed. Research has shown that the coal reservoirs in Xinjiang show the unique geological characteristics of CBM, including widely developed multi-thick coal seams, low rank coal development, the frequent occurrence of steep coal seams, the significant deformation and structural control of coal bodies, complex hydrologic and outcrop conditions, and the gas-bearing and physical properties with three “low” (low gas content, methane concentration, and gas saturation) and five “high” (high gas intensity, porosity, stress change, reservoir pressure change, and permeability change). The Xinjiang CBM has multiple genetic types and enrichment models, including biogenic mechanism, thermogenic mechanism, and biogenic-thermogenic composite genetic mechanism, etc., and their corresponding enrichment models. Biogenic gas reservoirs or biogenic gas contribute widely. The distribution and occurrence patterns of CBM in Xinjiang show some significant differences between foreland basin and intermountain basin. Therefore, the first breakthrough direction is to innovate and form the scientific evaluation based on the principle of “two separation” (low-rank and middle- and high-rank; shallow and deep coal) and “two combination” (geological and engineering evaluation; multivariate data) and the precise target optimization technology based on “machine learning + three-dimensional geological modeling”. The sweet spot of deep CBM/CMG (coal measure gas) in Xinjiang is mainly the uplift of the depression in the basin, the depression of the uplift in the basin, and the slope around the basin margin. The potential well location is the structurally high position, and the potential reservoir is the fissure-developed primary structure coal seam or pore and fissure-developed coal bearing sand conglomerate reservoir. Then, the second breakthrough direction is the sweet spot prediction and exploration technology for deep CBM/CMG based on “new method of geophysics, rock physics and rock mechanics stratigraphy” and “new concept of geological and engineering sweet spot”. The basic principles of the accelerated rolling development are low-risk, short-cycle, high-efficiency, and multi-batch project deployment. The technical strategies of the rapid increase of CBM reserves and productions in the middle and shallow coal seams include the new well layout and construction in the new optimized block and the old well reconstruction for the increase of CBM production in the mature block. While this strategy for the deep coal seam is to give priority to deployment and development in the sweet spot in the deep but gentle slope in the large basin and the uplift in the basin. Then, the third breakthrough direction is the engineering deployment methods and technical strategies for the scientific accelerated rolling development, and efficient and rapid increase of the gas reserves and productions. The important progresses have been made in the engineering technologies of Xinjiang CBM, such as the differential optimization and deployment of the well type and pattern, the drilling and cementing with a low reservoir damage, the high reliability logging and well testing, the efficient staged fracturing with the multi-well types, and the drainage control with the low casing pressure and controlled pressure. The fourth breakthrough direction is to develop and construct a geological adaptability technology system for a large-scale and efficient exploration and development of CBM in Xinjiang. For the middle and shallow CBM and coal cooperative exploration and development, the gas extraction followed by coal mining, the co-extraction of CBM and coal, and the co-extraction of CBM and in-situ oil-rich coal should be conducted. For the deep CBM, oil, and gas cooperative exploration and development, the development of coal measure superimposed gas reservoir, the co-exploration and co-extraction of CBM and CMG, and the exploration and development of the whole petroleum system in coal-bearing sequence should be conducted. These cooperative exploration and development of deep CBM, oil, and gas is the fifth breakthrough direction, whose developments have been considered and explored. The results of this study are expected to provide the technical support and engineering decision reference for a large-scale and efficient exploration and development of CBM in Xinjiang.

Broken soft and low permeability (BSLP) coal reservoirs are widely distributed in China. However, due to its soft and broken structure and low permeability, the conventional vertical/horizontal well direct fracturing technology is not ideal for the enhancement of BSLP coal seams and the surface development of coalbed methane (CBM). The efficient development of CBM in BSLP coal reservoirs has been an important technical bottleneck restricting the large-scale development of CBM industry and the efficient treatment of coal mine gas control in China. Based on the systematic analysis of the characteristics of BSLP coal reservoirs and the problems existing in the surface development of CBM, the current technological progress in the enhancement of BSLP coal reservoirs and surface development of CBM were reviewed by taking horizontal well as the base well type and focusing on three different technical directions: indirect fracturing, stress relief and consolidation before fracturing. The CBM development technologies of indirect fracturing, including roof indirect fracturing, gangue indirect fracturing and hard coal stratification indirect fracturing were summarized. The stress release CBM development technologies using different stress release methods, such as hydraulic jet cavitation, gas dynamic cavitation, mechanical + hydraulic + induced instability coupling cavitation and hydraulic slit, were reviewed. Furthermore, the CBM development technology of first consolidation and then fracturing of BSLP coal reservoirs induced by microorganisms was also summarized. The exploration of indirect fracturing technology has accumulated a lot of engineering practice, and has achieved a good effect on enhancing the BSLP coal reservoirs in areas with suitable geological conditions. The exploration of new technology for enhancing BSLP coal reservoir represented by stress release has also made great progress, and has entered the stage of engineering tests and verification. According to the characteristics of BSLP coal reservoir and the new development principle, the horizontal well stress release technology has greater potential for reservoir reconstruction and better effect for CBM development. Based on the horizontal well stress release method, the development trend of BSLP coal reservoir enhancement and surface CBM development technology was forecasted in three aspects: expanding the stress release range, improving the development effect of CBM and achieving the co-production of coal and CBM. It is expected to provide reference for improving the stimulation effect of BSLP coal reservoir and increasing the production of CBM well in China.

Large-scale cluster deployment is the development direction of the CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage) technology and the national major demand of fossil energy low-carbon utilization. The synergistic relationship and mechanism between CO2 geological storage potential and energy resources are the theoretical basis of the CCUS large-scale cluster deployment. In this study, the major progress in the fields of CO2 geological storage potential and its evaluation methods, the CCUS source-sink matching and pipe network design model, the synergistic relationship between CO2 geological storage potential and energy resources, and the technical basis and mode of the CCUS cluster deployment are systematically reviewed. The research ideas on the theoretical methodology of synergy between CO2 geological storage potential and energy resources in China are discussed and envisioned. The main conclusions of the research are as follows. The CO2 geological storage potential restricts the development potential and application scale of the CCUS technology. The evaluation method system of CO2 geological storage potential is preliminarily established, which is composed of suitability evaluation method, storage capacity evaluation method, and storage site selection method. However, the evaluation method system of CO2 geological storage potential urgently needs to be improved and developed in future research. Source-sink matching is the important direct basis for the CO2 transportation pipeline network design and the CCUS large-scale cluster deployment. The improvement and establishment of the optimization model between the CCUS source-sink matching and the CCUS cluster pipe network model is the key technology for the CCUS source-sink matching, and the transformation from single-stage static planning model to multi-stage dynamic planning model is the development direction. The synergy between CO2 geological storage potential and energy resources constitutes the constraint condition of the CCUS technology. The synergy between the CCUS technology and new energy technology, e.g., renewable energy, hydrogen energy, energy storage, etc. will be expected to form a new path, new mode, and new direction to achieve energy system decarbonization. The synergistic relationships between CO2 geological storage potential and biomass and water resources restrict the large-scale deployment area of the CCUS technology and the application potential of the BECCS (Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage) technology. Therefore, the research on the optimization model of energy and resources system based on the CCUS source-sink matching model will be a new technical requirement. The CO2 geological storage potential, energy-system constrained CCUS source-sink matching optimization scheme, and full flowsheet CCUS technology constitute the key technical basis for the CCUS cluster deployment. The CCUS cluster deployment mode of onshore storage with near-source transportation should be the priority development direction in China. The CCUS cluster deployment mode of onshore storage and offshore storage with remote-source transmission also have development prospects in Yangtze River Delta and Great Bay Area.

CO2 geological sequestration-enhanced coalbed methane (CO2-ECBM) strengthens the development of coalbed methane (CBM) and realizes the stimulation of coalbed methane wells. At the same time, CO2 is stored in deep coal seams. This technology has some great development prospects. Relying on the demonstration project, numerical simulation based on geological modeling is still an important path for its technological development. Based on the analysis of the characteristics for the corner grid geological model and the geological modeling ability of COMSOL Multiphysics, a geological model that can clearly display the three-dimensional spatial morphology and heterogeneity distribution of gas content, adsorption time, porosity, permeability, elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio of the No. 3 coal in the Shizhuang South Block of Qinshui Basin was established in COMSOL Multiphysics using the split-reconstruction method. On this basis, the numerical simulation of CO2-ECBM for controlling gas injection pressure was carried out in combination with the adsorption-hydraulic-thermal-mechanical-chemical (AHTMC) multi-field coupling mathematical model, and the impact of CO2 injection pressure on CH4 stimulation, CO2 storage and the geochemical environment of coal reservoir were analyzed. Moreover, two kinds of shut-in modes, namely, simultaneous shut-in and sequential shut-in, and four CO2-ECBM engineering objectives, namely, time saving, CH4 stimulation, CO2 storage and comprehensive consideration of the three, were proposed. In addition, the CO2 injection pressures were optimized according to the two shut-in modes with the four objectives. The results show that: ① Under the limit of 15-year and the injection pressure of 5.50−9.50 MPa for the CO2-ECBM project, with the increase of CO2 injection pressure, the CH4 production rate of CBM wells and the CO2 storage capacity of coal reservoir increase, with the maximum of 14.39% and 8.31×107 m3 respectively, the area of coal reservoir containing acid fissure water expands. The CO2 storage rate decreases due to the large output of CO2 from CBM wells with the increase of gas injection pressure, but remains above 95%. ② The heterogeneity of coal reservoirs has a great impact on the production of CBM wells. The higher the CH4 content and the greater the porosity and permeability of the coal reservoirs around the CBM wells, the more significant the CH4 stimulation effect. The stronger the CO2 adsorption capacity of the coal reservoirs surrounding CBM wells, the lower their CO2 production rate. ③ Under the simultaneous and sequential shut-in, CO2 injection pressure has a significant impact on the CO2 concentration and CH4 production rate of gas produced by well group, and the CH4 recovery of coal reservoir decreases with the increase of injection pressure at the end of CO2-ECBM project with 33.28% and 41.63% for 3.50 MPa, 18.90% and 28.03% for 6.50 MPa and 12.81% and 23.01% for 9.50 MPa, respectively. ④ The optimal injection pressure of CO2 for the engineering objectives of time saving, CH4 stimulation, CO2 storage and comprehensive consideration of above three are 8.05, 3.50, 6.35 and 6.25 MPa for the simultaneous shut-in, respectively, and 9.50, 9.50, 3.50 and 9.50 MPa for the sequential shut-in, respectively. ⑤ Compared with simultaneous shut-in, the sequential shut-in can achieve better CH4 stimulation and CO2 storage effects by extending the engineering time when using the optimal CO2 injection pressure.

The construction of CO2 geological storage GIS (Geographic Information System) basic data platform is an important basis for deploying the CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage) full-chain demonstration project. By studying typical carbon storage data platforms at home and abroad, the characteristics of carbon storage data are analyzed: multi-source, multi-scale, and multi-type. There are several areas that need to be further investigated: the platform function is basically a data storage management display, and a further enhancement of model embedding and dynamic analysis is needed. Research on the synergy between CO2 storage and energy resources needs to be further strengthened. On this basis, the basic data management and processing platform architecture of CO2 geological storage GIS is preliminarily designed based on the data of Map GIS spatial database and SQL Server attribute database, and the system is constructed by using the Microsoft. Net Frame development framework and the Web GIS technology. The core logical structure of the system is divided into four layers, namely, resource data layer, technical support layer, business application layer, and user permission layer. There are three peripheral support systems including the security system, management support system and standard specification system. The key technologies of data platform construction include the multi-heterogeneous data fusion of carbon sequestration geological GIS data and three models, i.e., secondary development and import of sequestration capacity evaluation model, source and sink matching dynamic model, and energy and resource collaboration model. Four interfaces are preliminarily designed including the data platform home page interface, thematic maps and results output interface, basin-level results map interface, storage potential - source and sink matching - energy and resources collaborative data analysis interface. The construction of the CO2 geological storage GIS basic data management and processing platform will provide a scientific basis for the selection of carbon reduction and decarburization solutions at the source, the selection of geological storage sites for CCUS regional large-scale deployment and the implementation of CCUS large-scale demonstration projects.