Methane hydrate formation and dissociation behaviors in montmorillonite

Abstract

Abstract The methane hydrate formation and the methane hydrate dissociation behaviors in montmorillonite are experimentally studied. Through the analyses of the microstructure characteristic, the study obtains the porous characteristic of montmorillonite. It is indicated that methane hydrate in montmorillonite forms the structure I (sI) crystal. Meanwhile, molecular dynamics simulation is carried out to study the processes of the methane hydrate formation and the methane hydrate dissociation in montmorillonite. The microstructure and microscopic properties are analyzed. The methane hydrate formation and methane hydrate dissociation mechanisms in the montmorillonite nanopore and on the montmorillonite surface are expounded. Combining the experimental and simulating analyses, the results indicate the methane hydrate formation and methane hydrate dissociation processes have little influence upon the crystal structure of porous media from either micro- or macro-analysis. It is beneficial to the fundamental researches on the exploitation and security control technologies of natural gas hydrate in deep-sea sediments.