A new model for evaluating the compatibility of multi-coal seams and its application for coalbed methane recovery

•A new model on the compatibility of multi-coal seams was established to evaluate the compatibility intensity of multi-coal seams.•A cross-correlation matrix was calculated to form a cross-correlation map describing the compatibility indexes of multi-coal seams.•With basic data of two experimental wells in western Guizhou, two segmentation schemes were provided by the cross-correlation maps of compatibility indexes.•Finally, detailed analysis of drainage performance of Well M-1 and M-2 indicated that the segmentation was suitable for the actual performance of exploration.