Effect of seawater infiltration on marine hydrate sediment exploitation by depressurization

Abstract

The overburden of marine hydrate sediment is usually a permeable cover, and the presence of permeable overburden directly affects the depressurization effect. However, previous studies have mainly focused on the effect of the permeable overburden without considering seawater infiltration, and the influence of seawater infiltration on the production of hydrate cannot be ignored. In this article, a new numerical model considering seawater infiltration is developed and this study is completed by numerical simulation. The results show that seawater infiltration significantly reduces hydrate dissociation, and the presence of seawater substantially reduces cumulative gas production and increases water production compared to non-permeable overburden, with higher permeability resulting in lower gas production and higher water production. It is an effective means to extract hydrates through lower bottom-hole pressure by increasing the gas–water ratio. It is of great significance to further understand the production characteristics of hydrate reservoirs.