Influence of the Particle Size of Sandy Sediments on Heat and Mass Transfer Characteristics during Methane Hydrate Dissociation by Thermal Stimulation

Natural gas hydrate could be regarded as an alternative energy source in the future. Therefore, the investigation of the gas production from hydrate reservoirs is attracting extensive attention. In this work, a novel set-up was built to investigate sand production and sediment deformation during hydrate dissociation by heat stimulation. The influence of the particle sizes on the hydrate dissociation and sediment deformation was first investigated experimentally. The experimental results indicated that the rate of hydrate decomposition by heat stimulation was in proportion to the particle size of the sediment. The heat transfer rate and the energy efficiency decreased with the decrease of the particle size of the sediment. This was because higher permeability might lead to a larger sweep area of the fluid flow, which was beneficial for the supply of heat for hydrate dissociation. The sand production was found during hydrate dissociation by heat stimulation. The particle migration was due to the hydrodynamics of the water injection. The sand sediment expanded under the drive force from water injection and hydrate dissociation. Additionally, the smaller permeability led to the larger pressure difference leading to the larger sediment deformation. Because the sediment became loose after hydrate dissociation, small particle migration due to the hydrodynamics of the water injection could happen during the experiments. However, the sand production in the sediment with the larger particle size was more difficult, because the larger particles were harder to move due to the hydrodynamics, and the larger particles were harder to move across the holes on the production well with a diameter of 1 mm. Therefore, the sediment deformation during hydrate dissociation by heat stimulation should not be ignored.

[1]  Yongchen Song,et al.  Gas recovery from depressurized methane hydrate deposits with different water saturations , 2017 .

[2]  Sung Chan Nam,et al.  Recovery of Methane from Hydrate Formed in a Variable Volume Bed of Silica Sand Particles , 2009 .

[3]  J. Schicks,et al.  New Approaches for the Production of Hydrocarbons from Hydrate Bearing Sediments , 2011 .

[4]  Ernst Huenges,et al.  In situ thermal conductivity of gas‐hydrate‐bearing sediments of the Mallik 5L‐38 well , 2005 .

[5]  Peter Englezos,et al.  Recovery of Methane from a Variable-Volume Bed of Silica Sand/Hydrate by Depressurization , 2010 .

[6]  E. D. Sloan,et al.  Fundamental principles and applications of natural gas hydrates , 2003, Nature.

[7]  A. Milkov.  Global estimates of hydrate-bound gas in marine sediments: how much is really out there? , 2004 .

[8]  Yoshihiro Konno,et al.  Experimental evaluation of the gas recovery factor of methane hydrate in sandy sediment , 2014 .

[9]  Xiao-Sen Li,et al.  Production behaviors and heat transfer characteristics of methane hydrate dissociation by depressurization in conjunction with warm water stimulation with dual horizontal wells , 2015 .

[10]  Yun Wook Choo,et al.  Geomechanical and Thermal Responses of Hydrate-Bearing Sediments Subjected to Thermal Stimulation: Physical Modeling Using a Geotechnical Centrifuge , 2013 .

[11]  Yongchen Song,et al.  Enhanced CH4 recovery and CO2 storage via thermal stimulation in the CH4/CO2 replacement of methane hydrate , 2017 .

[12]  Xiao-Sen Li,et al.  Hydrate dissociation induced by depressurization in conjunction with warm brine stimulation in cubic hydrate simulator with silica sand , 2016 .

[13]  Mike Priegnitz,et al.  Gas Production from Methane Hydrate: A Laboratory Simulation of the Multistage Depressurization Test in Mallik, Northwest Territories, Canada , 2016 .

[14]  Gang Li,et al.  Evaluation of Gas Production from Marine Hydrate Deposits at the GMGS2-Site 8, Pearl River Mouth Basin, South China Sea , 2016 .

[15]  Yu Zhang,et al.  Experimental study on sediment deformation during methane hydrate decomposition in sandy and silty clay sediments with a novel experimental apparatus , 2016 .

[16]  Praveen Linga,et al.  A Review of Reactor Designs and Materials Employed for Increasing the Rate of Gas Hydrate Formation , 2017 .

[17]  Yu Zhang,et al.  Analytic modeling and large-scale experimental study of mass and heat transfer during hydrate dissociation in sediment with different dissociation methods , 2015 .

[18]  Mike Priegnitz,et al.  Are Laboratory-Formed Hydrate-Bearing Systems Analogous to Those in Nature? , 2015 .

[19]  George J. Moridis,et al.  Toward Production From Gas Hydrates: Current Status, Assessment of Resources, and Simulation-Based Evaluation of Technology and Potential , 2008 .

[20]  G. Ali Mansoori,et al.  An introduction to natural gas hydrate/clathrate: The major organic carbon reserve of the Earth , 2007 .

[21]  Yongchen Song,et al.  Advances in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques for the investigation of clathrate hydrates , 2017 .

[22]  Jaewon Jang,et al.  The impact of fluid flow on force chains in granular media , 2017 .

[23]  Praveen Linga,et al.  Review of natural gas hydrates as an energy resource: Prospects and challenges ☆ , 2016 .

[24]  Marco J. Castaldi,et al.  Large scale reactor details and results for the formation and decomposition of methane hydrates via thermal stimulation dissociation , 2012 .

[25]  John A. Goff,et al.  Seismic morphology and infilling structure of the buried channel system beneath the inner shelf off western Long Island, New York: Accessing clues to palaeo-estuarine and coastal processes , 2017 .

[26]  Jiafei Zhao,et al.  Opportunities and challenges of gas hydrate policies with consideration of environmental impacts , 2017 .

[27]  Yoshihiro Masuda,et al.  Key Findings of the World’s First Offshore Methane Hydrate Production Test off the Coast of Japan: Toward Future Commercial Production , 2017 .

[28]  Y. Makogon.  Natural gas hydrates – A promising source of energy , 2010 .

[29]  B. Anderson,et al.  Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well, Alaska North Slope: Overview of scientific and technical program , 2011 .

[30]  Hitoshi Tomaru,et al.  Halogen systematics in the Mallik 5L-38 gas hydrate production research well, Northwest Territories, Canada: Implications for the origin of gas hydrates under terrestrial permafrost conditions , 2007 .

[31]  Yi Wang,et al.  Experimental study on characteristics of methane hydrate formation and dissociation in porous medium with different particle sizes using depressurization , 2018, Fuel.

[32]  P Michael Ho,et al.  Impaired heart rate recovery is associated with new-onset atrial fibrillation: a prospective cohort study , 2009, BMC cardiovascular disorders.

[33]  Gang Li,et al.  Experimental study on the hydrate dissociation in porous media by five-spot thermal huff and puff method , 2014 .

[34]  R. Boswell.  Is Gas Hydrate Energy Within Reach? , 2009, Science.

[35]  Huen Lee,et al.  Natural gas hydrate as a potential energy resource: From occurrence to production , 2013, Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering.

[36]  Hisanao Ouchi,et al.  Key Factors for Depressurization-Induced Gas Production from Oceanic Methane Hydrates , 2010 .

[37]  Yu Zhang,et al.  Experimental and modeling analyses of scaling criteria for methane hydrate dissociation in sediment by depressurization , 2016 .

[38]  Praveen Linga,et al.  Production Behavior from Hydrate Bearing Marine Sediments using Depressurization Approach , 2017 .

[39]  Gang Li,et al.  Gas hydrate equilibrium dissociation conditions in porous media using two thermodynamic approaches , 2008 .

[40]  Gang Li,et al.  Investigation into gas production from natural gas hydrate: A review , 2016 .