Evolution of gas transport pattern with the variation of coal particle size: Kinetic model and experiments

Gas desorption laws varies with coal particle size. Their proper description is of great importance to natural gas engineering. This paper tries to summarize the internal links in commonly used models and combine them into a more general form. The combined general model is capable of describing fracture flow, matrix diffusion and surface sorption processes in pores with shapes like flat plates, cylinders and spheres. It can also be simplified into a power function which can be readily implemented into simulation of sorption and calculation of dynamic Fickian diffusion coefficients. Experiments including low-temperature liquid N₂ adsorption, proximate analysis, isothermal methane sorption and desorption experiments with different particle sizes were conducted to validate the model. Other sorption data from literature were also collected for validation. The fitting results can help explain the size dependence of desorption characteristics and show the flow type evolutions during the damage of pore system.