Hydrate Decomposition Research Articles

Unexpected inhibition roles of methane nanobubbles on hydrate decomposition

Uncontrolled hydrate decomposition poses extraordinary risks, such as submarine landslides during hydrate exploitation, and gas leakage during hydrate storage/transportation. Previous studies suggested inhibitors can effectively prevent hydrate decomposition by adsorbing onto the hydrate surface. However, herein, we find inhibitors have very limited adsorption coverages on hydrate, which cannot fully explain their good performance. In this study, by combining experiments and molecular simulations, a new inhibition mechanism is proposed, in which nanobubbles act as the primary factor in inhibiting hydrate decomposition. Specifically, when PVP (a typical inhibitor) is added into the solution, its hydrophobic groups interact strongly with CH4, thereby increasing CH4 solubility and inducing the formation of CH4 nanobubbles. These nanobubbles are then encapsulated within the hydrate and inhibit hydrate decomposition by the following process: nanobubbles gradually become exposed to the aqueous phase during hydrate decomposition and release CH4 to the region near the nanobubble-hydrate interface. The high local CH4 concentrations near the nanobubble-hydrate interface would promote the formation of microstructures necessary for hydrate nucleation, thereby amplifying the driving force toward nucleation and consequently inhibiting hydrate decomposition. Our proposed “nanobubble inhibition mechanism” can provide a theoretical foundation for developing and applying inhibitors to prevent hydrate decomposition in various industrial applications.

Assessment of the gas discharge characteristics during gas recovery by hydrate decomposition

Hydrate-based gas separation is a novel approach for the capture and recovery of hydrofluorocarbons. The gas discharge characteristics during hydrate decomposition need to be clarified for the efficient recovery of hydrofluorocarbons. In this study, we investigated the mass transfer characteristics during the gas recovery from hydrate particles by decomposing the HFC134a hydrates. First, the volumetric mass transfer coefficient was estimated from the gas recovery rate during the HFC134a hydrate slurry. The hydrate particles enhanced the gas recovery performance of the overall apparatus. Next, the mass transfer coefficient between hydrate and liquid was calculated. Ascending bubbles and the resulting change in the dispersion state of the particles significantly affected the mass transfer. Finally, we developed a mass transfer correlation equation between the solid and liquid phases by dimensionless numbers based on Kolmogorov’s theory. The experimental equation predicted the Sherwood number with ±40 % accuracy and an average absolute relative error of 19.0 %. The dispersion state of the hydrate particles was a significant factor in the estimation.

Numerical Simulation of Secondary Hydrate Formation Characteristics and Effectiveness of Prevention Methods

The exploitation of natural gas hydrates by the pressure reduction method is affected by the decomposition heat absorption effect, and the range of the formation temperature reduction area is expanding. At the same time, the temperature reduction phenomenon is more significant around the production wells under the influence of gas throttling and expansion effects, and hydrate formation will occur under certain temperature and pressure conditions, leading to blockage of effective seepage channels in the reservoir in the region and elevation of seepage resistance, which may affect the output of hydrate decomposition gas. A numerical simulation model is constructed for the purpose of studying the secondary hydrate generation pattern around the well, analyzing the impact of secondary hydrates around wells on the production capacity, and assessing the effectiveness of prevention methods to inform the actual production of hydrates. The results demonstrate that secondary hydrate is typically formed in the near-well area of the upper part of the production well, and the secondary hydrate around the upper part of the production well is the first to be formed, exhibiting the highest saturation peak and the latest decomposition. The formation of the secondary hydrate can be predicted based on the observed change in temperature and pressure, and the rate of secondary hydrate formation is markedly rapid, whereas the decomposition rate, approximately 0.285 mole/d, is relatively slow. Additionally, the impact of secondary hydrates on cumulative gas production is insignificant, and the effect of secondary hydrates on capacity can be ignored. Hot water injection, wellbore heating, and reservoir reconstruction can effectively eliminate secondary hydrates around the well. Reservoir reconstruction represents a superior approach to the elimination of secondary hydrates, which can effectively enhance production capacity while preventing the generation of secondary hydrates.

Stability Characteristics of Natural Gas Hydrate Wellbores Based on Thermo-Hydro-Mech Modeling

During drilling operations, drilling fluids undergo heat exchange with hydrate-bearing formations. The intrusion of drilling fluids affects hydrate stability, leading to variations in stress fields around a wellbore and complex scenarios such as borehole collapse, significantly hindering the efficient development of natural gas hydrate resources. This study establishes a thermo-hydro-mech model for hydrate-bearing inclined wells based on linear thermoelastic porous media theory and an appropriately high inhibitive drilling fluid temperature. This research reveals that drilling should follow directions of minimum horizontal stress or perpendicular to maximum horizontal stress during drilling operations to control wellbore stability. Hydrate decomposition due to factors like drilling fluid pressure and temperature can rapidly reduce the strength of low-saturation formations, significantly increasing the risk of wellbore instability. Therefore, selecting appropriate highly inhibitive and low-temperature drilling fluids during drilling operations helps control hydrate decomposition and reduce fluid intrusion, thereby mitigating risks associated with wellbore instability.

Probabilistic stability analysis of small-angle marine slopes considering hydrate decomposition and seismic excitation

The submarine massive mud transports of several seas around the world, including the Shenhu Sea, are thought to relate with hydrate decomposition, which occur even at small gradients. This article investigates the stability and reliability of marine slopes considering three factors related to hydrate decomposition and earthquake, namely decrease in sediment strength, increase in excess pore pressure, and activation by external seismic force. Taking the SH2 hole, implemented by the first Chinese offshore hydrate drilling mission (GMGS-1), as an example, the impacts of three factors mentioned above on marine slopes stability are analyzed with infinite slope theory. In addition, the space distribution of physical and mechanical parameters in hydrate deposits is under consideration. The cohesion, friction angle and buoyant unit weight in a non-stationary random field are treated as spatial random variables, where the means of the first two increase linearly with depth. Variation characteristics of the failure probability for various slope angles are analyzed under different scenarios. The outcomes reveal that the safety factor of the slopes at 30% potential for damage is around 1.25 within a given variant characterization. The proposed integrated stability and reliability analysis can effectively provide early warning for collapse of marine hydrate-bearing slopes.

Research on Production Behavior of A Fractured Well in Gas Hydrate Reservoirs Considering Multilayer

Abstract Natural gas hydrates are internationally recognized as a new clean energy source with high prospects for commercial development. However, the vast majority of hydrates are hosted in oceanic clayey silty sediments, which are inefficient to exploit due to the extremely low effective permeability. In this paper, a novel development mode, that is, multilayer commingled production with a hydraulically fractured well, is proposed for the multilayered reservoir where hydrate and free gas coexist, to enhance productivity. Especially, the co-production behavior was numerically investigated, with the multilayered reservoir containing a hydrate-bearing layer, a three-phase layer, and a free gas layer located in the Shenhu Area as the geological background. The results indicated that the fracture provided flow channels for gas production in the multilayer, as well as greatly increasing the pressure drop spreading zone and changing the hydrate decomposition mode from around the wellbore to along the fracture surface. Compared with improving the fracture conductivity, increasing the fracture length is more effective for improving hydrate decomposition efficiency and co-production capacity. Specifically, when the fracture half-length was 30 m and the fracture conductivity was 100 D·cm, the cumulative gas production reached 949×104 m3 at 3600 days, which was 3.28 times that of the unfractured scenario. Additionally, fracturing the free gas layer hardly affects productivity as the free gas can be well-recovered by the wellbore. Overall, the proposed mode is promising for multilayered gas hydrate reservoirs, provides references for the co-production plan design, and contributes to the scale mining of hydrates.

Borehole Stability of Natural Gas Hydrate Reservoirs

Abstract The decomposition of natural gas hydrate (NGH) due to long-term drilling may decrease the strength of reservoirs and increase the borehole failure risk. Meanwhile, the creep properties of NGH reservoirs also may give rise to engineering problems including borehole shrinkage and jamming of drilling tools in the late stage of drilling, which seriously impairs the drilling safety. A thermal-fluid-solid multi-field coupling model considering the decomposition kinetics of NGH and creep properties of reservoirs was established to explore the influence mechanism of NGH decomposition and creep properties of hydrate-bearing sediments on mechanical behaviors of boreholes. In addition, influences of drilling parameters and geomechanical properties of reservoirs on borehole stability in the drilling process of NGH reservoirs were analyzed. Research results show that creep properties of NGH deposits causes homogenization of stress distribution in different directions of NGH reservoirs around boreholes, transition of plastic zones around boreholes to a round shape, and possibly overall borehole collapse. As the horizontal geostress becomes more inhomogeneous, the borehole instability risk increases; the higher the initial pore pressure of formation is, the lower the effective geostress and the lower the borehole instability risk. The research results can provide theoretical support for safe drilling of NGH reservoirs in South China Sea and promote the early commercial exploitation of NGH resources in China.

Synthesis and performance evaluation of polymer-ceramic composite microcapsules as reservoir protectant for natural gas hydrate drilling.

Natural gas hydrate is a promising unconventional natural gas source due to its high energy density and huge global reserves. During exploitation, the drilling fluid may invade the hydrate formation and induce hydrate decomposition, causing reservoir damage. Herein, a novel reservoir protectant made by bio-degradable temporary plugging material (BDTPM) was developed in the form of polymer-ceramic composite microcapsules. As an additive to the drilling fluid, the BDTPM can minimize drilling fluid intrusion by plugging the reservoir during drilling and afterwards maximize permeability recovery by degrading the material. The particle size distribution was in the range of 1-130μm. The optimal mass ratio between modified ceramic particles, ethyl cellulose and epoxy resin was found to be 4:2:1. The plugging rate was 100% when ethyl cellulose and epoxy resin were mixed to coat the ceramic particles to form BDTPM, and the plugging performance was the best. At a temperature close to the typical hydrate reservoir environment (5°C), 0.02 wt% low-temperature complex enzyme can degrade BDTPM, and the permeability recovery rate is 64.66%. The efficient reservoir protectant developed in this work could play an important role in the successful drilling of natural gas hydrate reservoirs.

Development and Evaluation of Insulation Materials for Deepwater Cementing.

Marine oil and gas resources are abundant in deepwater regions, where the shallow seabed harbors natural gas hydrate layers due to the cold temperature and high-pressure environment. Hydrates are prone to thermal decomposition, which can compromise the integrity of cement sealing and even lead to accidents like blowouts. While current low-hydrated heat cement systems mitigate hydrate decomposition from cement hydration heat during the waiting period for cementing, they do not address heat transfer from deep strata to shallow hydrate layers through fluid circulation in the tubing during deep oil and gas development. Rather than utilizing costly pipe insulation technology, adjusting the thermal conductivity of well cement emerges as a cost-effective approach to prevent heat loss in the wellbore to the hydrate layer and thus inhibit hydrate decomposition. The critical aspect lies in utilizing insulation functional materials. This study delves into the functional and structural design of insulation materials suitable for cement slurry systems in well cementing, outlining the preparation methods and processes for two insulation materials (SDBW and SDBW-II) tailored for deepwater well cementing. SDBW and SDBW-II are both nuclear shell structural materials. The core is made of high-strength hollow microspheres, produced by using a reverse suspension polymerization method to form spheres followed by high-temperature sintering. The shell consists of a wear-resistant BPA epoxy resin layer, with the surface of SDBW-II also containing highly reflective glass microspheres. Incorporating 20% of material SDBW into the cement reduces the thermal conductivity of the cement stone from 0.8 to 0.31 W·(m·K)-1 while achieving a compressive strength of 6 MPa after 24 h at 20 °C. Material SDBW-II offers both thermal resistance and reflection functions, increasing reflectivity (R) from 0.3 to 0.5. By adding 20% of this material to the cement, under the same conditions, although the compressive strength decreases to 4.2 MPa, the thermal conductivity can be reduced to 0.27 W·(m·K)-1. Furthermore, there is no significant change within 180 days, demonstrating long-term thermal insulation stability. These developed insulation materials can effectively improve the thermal insulation performance of the cement sheath, thereby maintaining the stability of the upper natural gas hydrate layer in the oil and gas production process of deepwater wells, providing an innovative solution for the long-term operation of deepwater oil and gas wells.

Non-steady flow decomposition behaviors of heat and mass transfer on intrinsic kinetics for methane hydrate particles transported in pipelines

The differential equations governing the decomposition rate and activation energy, convective mass transfer, methane diffusion and fugacity, as well as heat conduction and enthalpy change were derived by integrating thermal convection, heat conduction, mass transfer and intrinsic kinetics. Mathematical models for decomposition kinetics and thermodynamics in a non-steady field were solved using a radial logarithmic grid for node division and discretization of the equations. The study elucidated the heat and mass transfer processes as well as decomposition kinetics in pipelines by analyzing the impacts of particle size, temperature, pressure, flow rate and activation energy on decomposition rate. The results indicated that compared with the isothermal decomposition of the intrinsic kinetic model and static experimental decomposition, the complex non-steady multiphase flow model offers a more accurately simulation of hydrate decomposition as well as associated heat and mass transfer processes. Hydrate decomposition is characterized as a non-isothermal dynamic ablation process with heat transfer rate and intrinsic kinetics dominating during the preliminary stage and the stable stage, respectively. An increasing in the slurry temperature, temperature fluctuation and flow rate accelerated the heat transfer rate capacity, enhanced convective heat transfer capacity and facilitated hydrate decomposition, with the mass transfer rate exhibiting lesser influence. The particle surface area and slurry temperature exhibited the most significant influence on hydrate decomposition, which was followed by flow rate. Upon increasing particle size from 1 mm to 5 mm and the temperature from 293 K to 313 K, the decomposition rate increased by 20.7 times and 13.5 times, respectively. Furthermore, enhancing temperature and flow rate while decreasing particle size and pressure decreased both the decomposition time and the duration required for the decomposition rate to reach its peak. Additionally, the decomposition rate and its constant vary with the activation energy.

Study of Mechanical Properties of Different Hydrate Reservoirs

Based on the triaxial shear tests of mud sediments in the South China Sea, mud chalk-type sediments in the South China Sea, and sandy sediments in the Nankai Trough, Japan, at different hydrate saturation and enclosing pressures, the stress-strain relationships of hydrate-bearing clays, mud chalk-type soils, and sandy soils were analyzed. The test results show that:(1)The stress-strain curves of the South China Sea clay sediments show three stages of elasticity, plastic deformation and strain hardening, which are significantly different from those of the hydrate-free clays; the stress-strain relationships of the hydrate-containing clays before and after hydrate decomposition are significantly different, and the undrained strength of the clays decreases by up to 50% after hydrate decomposition compared with that before hydrate decomposition; the above results indicate that the presence of hydrate enhances the linkage or cementation between the clay particles. The above results indicate that the presence of hydrate enhances the linkage or cementation between the clay particles.(2)For the mechanical properties of the hydrate specimens of the muddy chalky sand type in the South China Sea, the hydrate endowment, effective stresses and pore pressures all have some influence on the strength and deformation properties. The inclusion of hydrate in the pore space enhances the shear expansion characteristics of the sediments. For the effect of effective stress on the mechanical properties of hydrate sediments, the increase of effective peritectic pressure reduces the strain softening properties of hydrate sediments. The destructive strength of the sediments increases with the increase of effective confining pressure.(3)For the hydrate specimens in the Nankai Trough of Japan under the same effective circumferential pressure conditions, with the increase of hydrate saturation, the stress-strain law of the sediments showed a tendency to transform from strain hardening to strain softening, and the morphology of sandy sediment axial strain-lateral strain curves was controlled by the factors of hydrate saturation, and the absolute value of the slope of the curves expressed the rule of change of the tangent Poisson's ratio.

Enhanced strategies for depressurization in offshore natural gas hydrate exploitation: An in-depth investigation into pathway optimization and production stability mechanisms

Natural gas hydrates have garnered widespread attention as a high-quality energy resource. Recent offshore extraction experiences suggest that depressurization is a technically mature and economically viable option. However, challenges such as reservoir temperature reduction, reservoir subsidence, secondary hydrate formation, and insufficient dynamics in later-stage hydrate decomposition still require improvements to the depressurization method. This study, based on field data from Japan's first offshore natural gas hydrate extraction, utilizes a self-developed numerical simulator to model and validate reservoirs at the field scale. Long-term production rate stability, total production, secondary hydrate formation, reservoir subsidence, evolution of permeability, and temperature-pressure paths were analyzed and optimized for the three mainstream depressurization modes: steady depressurization, stepwise depressurization, and cyclic depressurization. The results indicate that, under the condition of equal total work done throughout the entire depressurization process, steady depressurization with an effectively lower depressurization rate is the optimal choice. Cyclic depressurization, due to the formation of secondary hydrates reducing the permeability of certain reservoir zones, adversely affects gas production efficiency during the long-term stable production phase. This study enhances insights into the coupled evolution of multiple physical fields during the depressurization of offshore natural gas hydrates, providing valuable guidance for future on-site extraction plan designs.

Experimental study on the effect of hydrate saturation in reservoir on microwave heating hydrate decomposition gas production

Microwave heating technology is an effective method to promote the decomposition of hydrates, with hydrate saturation being an important parameter influencing this process. This study has synthesized natural gas hydrates with different saturations within a high-pressure reaction vessel to conduct experiments on the decomposition of natural gas hydrates by microwave heating. The reservoir temperature, gas production dynamics, and energy utilization rate are investigated for hydrate saturations of 30.26 %, 35.63 %, and 39.61 %, respectively. The results indicate that increasing hydrate saturation enhances the microwave penetration depth, which in turn elevates the reservoir temperature and accelerates hydrate decomposition. When the hydrate saturation increases from 30.26 % to 39.61 %, the gas production time decreases. Simultaneously, both the volume and rate of gas production increase, accompanied by enhanced energy utilization rate. When the hydrate saturation is 39.61 %, the experiment achieves an average gas production rate of 1.17 L/min, a total volume of 19.73 L, and an energy utilization rate of 2.716. The research results can promote the application of microwave heating technology in the development of hydrates.

Experimental study on hydrate blockage formation and decomposition in gas-dominated Fluctuating pipes

Current research pertaining to hydrate flow assurance in the transportation of deep-sea natural gas through undulating pipelines remains sparse. Employing a novel undulating pipeline equipped with multipoint-distributed sensors, we delve to the processes of hydrate generation, migration, deposition, blockage, and decomposition. Our findings reveal that the upward inclination sections of both lifting and underlying pipes are particularly vulnerable to hydrate blockage. The lifting pipe is not conducive to hydrate deposition and blockage, whereas the underlying pipe poses a heightened risk for hydrate formation. Increasing subcooling leads to a reduction in blockage duration and sloughing frequency, alongside an extension in decomposition time. Furthermore, increasing the water injection rate and pipeline curvature prolongs the blockage of the lifting pipe. However, the impact of the water injection rate on the underlying pipe is negligible. Increasing pipeline curvature promotes the blockage of the underlying pipe. We propose models that encapsulate hydrate blockage and decomposition based on varying gas–liquid distributions. This research fills the gap in the study of hydrate blockage and decomposition in undulating pipelines and provides a reference for monitoring hydrate risks in natural-gas transmission pipelines.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF HYDRATE FORMATION PECULIARITIES FOR CONDITIONS OF THE TURNO AND CENOMANIAN DEPOSITS: Part II

This paper is the second part of the research devoted to the study of hydrate formation features for the conditions of Turonian and Cenomanian deposits. The launch of new gas projects at the Turon and Senoman production facilities in Western Siberia provided a good opportunity to critically analyze the known methods of protecting production, gathering and transportation facilities of the gas field from the formation of solid gas hydrates. The paper presents the experience of implementing a program of laboratory studies of conditions of gas hydrate formation with their subsequent processing and in-depth analysis. The research program covered the area of thermobaric parameters typical for the conditions of Turon-Senoman deposits exploitation with localization of hydrate-hazardous areas in the conditions of Technological Regimes for full development. The description of laboratory studies is given, in which two gas compositions of Senoman and Turon objects, different variants of mineralization and ionic composition corresponding to formation and condensation water, as well as hydrate formation conditions under changing dosages of basic inhibitor on the basis of methanol were considered. The details of the experiment based on the method of swinging cells and the subsequent analysis of the results of the completed experiments to determine the thermobaric conditions of formation and decomposition of hydrates are given. The main features of the experiment are specified, estimates of the rate of change of the influencing parameters of the experiment on its quality are given. In the process of implementation of the experimental program, the optimal values of these parameters were selected, which allowed us to significantly reduce the variation of experimental results to determine the thermobaric conditions of hydrate formation. It is experimentally established that the temperature of hydrate decomposition is higher than the temperature of its formation at all investigated gas compositions and water mineralization.

Redox reaction models for carbonation of hardened cement under elevated temperature up to 1000°C

Concrete structures are exposed to various temperature environments and often come into contact with CO2 under these conditions. With the recent surge in interest in carbonation, there is a growing demand for a numerical model that can more comprehensively and flexibly account for the reactions of hydration, carbonation, decomposition, and recovery of cement hydrates. A comprehensive framework for concrete carbonation is proposed from a wide perspective of temperature with thermo-chemical modeling including de-carbonation and re-carbonation. By overlaying rates of bidirectional redox reactions, the dominant reaction at any temperature can be determined. The model framework, encompassing cement hydration, carbonation, de-hydration, de-carbonation, re-hydration, and re-carbonation, was experimentally validated by previous measurements of changes in weight and porosity under different CO2 concentrations and repeated exposure to high temperatures followed by post-fire-curing. These validations demonstrate a strong connection between the micro- and macroscopic properties of concrete in the proposed model. With this scheme, fire resistance of concrete composite under unexpected cases was explored computationally. Significant weight loss and strength reduction of cement paste are predicted after the first heating cycle, followed by gradual decline in subsequent repetitions of temperature. In the cases with water post-fire-curing, it is observed that the strength tends to restore even with repeated heating. In the cases with RH-60 % vapor post-fire-curing, the strength recovery is significantly increased by re-carbonation, but is still smaller than that of the cases with water post-fire-cuing.

Optimization of energy efficiency in gas production from hydrates assisted by geothermal energy enriched in the deep gas

Scaled-up production from natural gas hydrates is still facing the significant issues of limited gas yield and unsustainable hydrate dissociation. In this work, the deep gas with huge reserves and abundant geothermal energy was used to enhance the hydrate production efficiency. Results showed that the geotherm-assisted gas production was significantly increased by 178.22 %. Surprisingly, the hydrate dissociation rate was slightly weakened by 3.66 % due to the hindered fugacity of the gas from hydrate decomposition as a result of the fast deep gas upwelling. Besides, the energy flow analysis showed that up to 40.67 % of the deep gas injection energy was dissipated to the surroundings, with only 8.28 % utilized for the hydrate decomposition. Consequently, the multi-well deployment was used to regulate the deep gas injection rate. It was found that the multiple wells weakened the sealing effect of hydrate on migration channels, preventing the violent gas upwelling while increasing the hydrate decomposition amount under geothermal stimulation. Then, prolonging crossflow distance of deep gas in the hydrate layer enabled the sediment to absorb more injected energy, resulting in the minimum wasted energy ratio. Not limited to this, the more stable gas production throughout the whole process effectively guaranteed the safety of exploitation. Finally, the hydrate decomposition rate in the depressurization and constant pressure stages was found to be positively correlated with the utilization ratio of the injected energy and the injected rate, respectively. The results could help guide the formulation of the multi-gas joint production scenarios in the field tests to balance production efficiency and cost.

Behavior of self-sensing masonry structures exposed to high temperatures and rehydration

High temperatures can compromise the structural integrity of structural masonry. Therefore, assessing the post-fire mechanical behavior is crucial for selecting suitable rehabilitation methods. Recent research has proposed the application of self-sensing cementitious composites for monitoring strains, stresses, and damage of structural masonry in room temperature. No previous research has been found on the self-sensing performance of fire-damaged masonry prisms exposed to elevated temperatures, with or without subsequent rehydration. Masonry prisms with integrated self-sensing joints and blocks were produced and exposed to different maximum temperature levels, followed or not by rehydration. Then, experimental tests for determination of compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, gauge factor (GF) and damage-detection performance were carried out. The exposure to 300 ºC caused a 7.4 % decrease in compressive strength and a 44.5 % reduction in elastic modulus. Rehydration methods had negligible effects in this case. After 600 ºC, substantial reductions of 42.2 % in compressive strength and 81.5 % in elastic modulus occurred. In this case, rehydration led to a 15.9 % increase in compressive strength and a 117.4 % increase in elastic modulus. Regardless of the exposure temperature, the predominant rupture mode initiated by vertical cracks originating at the block-mortar interfaces. After 300 ºC, slight GF increases occurred due to the thermal decomposition of hydrates of the cementitious matrix, while exposure to 600 ºC resulted in high GF increases due to partial oxidation of nanomaterials and substantial microcracking propagation. Post-fire curing improved the GF by sealing microcracks with nonconductive rehydration products and enhancing tunneling conduction mechanisms. The self-sensing prisms also demonstrated the ability for real-time damage detection and quantification, providing valuable predictive insights into the propagation of damage.

Effect of decrease in pore water salinity induced by hydrate decomposition in clayey silt sediment on the destabilization-migration-clogging characteristics of illite

The clayey silt sediments are characterized by low permeability and high clay content, which makes fines migration not negligible. This work investigated the fines migration characteristics of illite under the condition of pore water salinity decreased, analyzed the effect on reservoir seepage characteristics, and evaluated the fines migration capability. The results show that the rapid decrease in pore water salinity caused by the decomposition of hydrate with high saturation produces higher particle concentration and results in more serious damage. At lower production pressures(0.1 MPa), the stability of illite was directly destroyed and flocculated to form aggregates that directly clogged the pores. The illite still tends to adsorb to the wall at higher production pressure(2.0 MPa), and then destabilizes and segregates under the effect of fluid dynamic. At higher production pressures, suspended particles are less likely to flocculate, which is more likely to block pores through bridging. The evaluation results of fines migration capability further clarified that salinity has a significant effect on fines migration characteristics and reservoir seepage capacity damage under different production pressures. This work demonstrates it is necessary to pay attention to the effect of fines migration on reservoir seepage characteristics when developing hydrate mining strategy.

Study on hydrate decomposition under microwave heating

Study on hydrate decomposition under microwave heating