Evaluation of Coalbed Methane Content by Using Kernel Extreme Learning Machine and Geophysical Logging Data

Accurate evaluation of coalbed methane (CBM) content plays a momentous role in the identification and efficient development of favorable exploitation blocks of CBM resources, but there are still many technical challenges in the exploration and development of onshore CBM fields. With the development and application of geophysical logging technology, using geophysical logging data to predict the gas content of CBM reservoirs has been proven to be an effective and feasible solution. However, the complex logging response of the CBM reservoirs makes it difficult to characterize the relationship between the gas content and the logging curve response by a simple linear relationship. In this paper, kernel extreme learning machine (KELM), a machine learning method, is combined with the geophysical logging data to predict the vertical variation curve of gas content in CBM wells. In this paper, the laboratory data on coal rock gas content from 12 CBM wells in the Southern Shizhuang block are selected, and a CBM content prediction model based on the KELM method is constructed by selecting the log curves, combining cross-validation and grid-seeking to determine the hyperparameters, and validating the prediction model using the test dataset and a new well in the same block. The application of the model on the test dataset was remarkable, and the vertical variation of CBM content obtained by applying it to the new well was consistent with the laboratory results, which proved the correctness and generalizability of the model. The results of this paper show that the CBM content evaluation model based on the KELM method and geophysical logging data is applicable to the 3# coal seam in the target block and can be used to predict the vertical CBM content of CBM wells; compared with the extreme learning machine (ELM) method and the backpropagation neural network (BPNN) method, the KELM method requires fewer hyperparameters to be explored when constructing the CBM content evaluation model, and the model construction is simple and has high prediction accuracy. At the same time, the CBM content model constructed by the KELM method differs for different blocks, coal seams at different depths, and different response ranges of geophysical logging data. The construction of a CBM content prediction model using the KELM method and logging curves is an effective means of characterizing CBM resources, and the model construction process and evaluation criteria studied in this paper can be used to help other blocks evaluate the CBM content, providing guidance for further exploration and development of CBM fields with practical application.