Review of Theory and Practice on Natural Gas Hydrate

Abstract

Research on Natural Gas Hydrate（NGH）is very popular in recent years. NGH is a potential, new and clean energy with the characteristics of high energy density, high combustion heat, high proven reserves, no pollution, wide distribution and shallow burial and so on. It has been identified that NGH is widely distributed in the plateau, arctic permafrost and some eligible areas in the seabed of epicontinental and continental slope all around the world. According to the research data on NGH at home and abroad, the mineralizing, formation, distribution and exploration technology of NGH are introduced as well as the NGH research status of countries in the world, including China. Many theories and techniques about the exploitation of NGH are not mature yet. Numerous problems still exist in industrial mining NGH, such as environmental, geological problems induced by mining NGH and storage and transportation problems after mining. Finally, the application and mining prospects of NGH are and prospected and summarized to provide a relatively comprehensive reference to this research field.