The relative permeability of coal to gas and water is an essential parameter for characterizing coalbed methane (CBM) reservoirs and predicting coal seam gas production, particularly in numerical simulations. Although a variety of studies related to the relative permeability of coals have been conducted, the results hardly meet the needs of practical engineering applications. To track the dynamic development of relative permeability measurements in the laboratory, discover the deficiencies, and discuss further work in this field, this paper investigates the relative permeability measurement preparation work and laboratory methods and summarizes the development of techniques used to determine the water saturation during experimentation. The previously determined relative permeability curves are also assembled and classified according to coal rank and the absolute permeability. It is found that the general operations in the relative permeability measurement process are still not standardized. The techniques applied to determine the water saturation of coal in experiments have been refined to some extent, but no optimal technique has been recognized yet. New techniques, such as the incorporation of high-precision differential pressure gauges, can be used to determine the water production during relative permeability measurement. In addition, the existing relative permeability data are limited, and no study has focused on supercritical carbon dioxide-water and mixed gas (methane and carbon dioxide)-water relative permeability measurements. To meet the requirements of actual projects, further research on this topic must be conducted.

Relative permeability is essential for understanding porous media’s gas and water seepage characteristics and establishing production schedules in practical engineering applications. However, the movable water is too small to be detected in ultra-lowpermeability rocks, and it is difficult to determine the water saturation in the relative permeability measurement accurately. In this study, a differential pressure transducer (DPT) was applied to self-developed apparatus to quantify displaced water precisely. The results indicate that: (a) both the permeability and the relative permeability measurement results show high stability in repeatability tests with the application of DPT. (b) The final cumulative water flow data measured by the DPT is reliable; the relative error of the electronic balance and DPT value was less than 4%. (c) This self-developed instrument can obtain the relative permeability curve for ultra-low permeability rocks, such as tight sandstone and anthracite coal. Although there are limitations, this technique provides an economical and reliable pathway for studying the seepage characteristics of gas and water in ultra-low permeability rocks.