Hydrate bearing clayey sediments: Formation and gas production concepts

Hydro-thermo-chemo and mechanically coupled processes determine hydrate morphology and control gas production from hydrate-bearing sediments. Force balance, together with mass and energy conservation analyses anchored in published data provide robust asymptotic solutions that reflect governing processes in hydrate systems. Results demonstrate that hydrate segregation in clayey sediments results in a two-material system whereby hydrate lenses are surrounded by hydrate-free water-saturated clay. Hydrate saturation can reach ≈2% by concentrating the excess dissolved gas in the pore water and ≈20% from metabolizable carbon. Higher hydrate saturations are often found in natural sediments and imply methane transport by advection or diffusion processes. Hydrate dissociation is a strongly endothermic event; the available latent heat in a reservoir can sustain significant hydrate dissociation without triggering ice formation during depressurization. The volume of hydrate expands 2-to-4 times upon dissociation or CO₂CH₄ replacement. Volume expansion can be controlled to maintain lenses open and to create new open mode discontinuities that favor gas recovery. Pore size is the most critical sediment parameter for hydrate formation and gas recovery and is controlled by the smallest grains in a sediment. Therefore any characterization must carefully consider the amount of fines and their associated mineralogy.     

Formation of the regular satellites of giant planets in an extended gaseous nebula II: satellite migration and survival

For a satellite to survive in the disk the time scale of satellite migration must be longer than the time scale for gas dissipation. For large satellites (∼1000 km) migration is dominated by the gas tidal torque. We consider the possibility that the redistribution of gas in the disk due to the tidal torque of a satellite with mass larger than the inviscid critical mass causes the satellite to stall and open a gap (W.R. Ward, 1997, Icarus 26, 261-281). We adapt the inviscid critical mass criterion to include gas drag, and m-dependent nonlocal deposition of angular momentum. We find that such a model holds promise of explaining the survival of satellites in the subnebula, the mass versus distance relationship apparent in the saturnian and uranian satellite systems, the concentration of mass in Titan, and the observation that the satellites of Jupiter get rockier closer to the planet whereas those of Saturn become increasingly icy. It is also possible that either weak turbulence (close to the planet) or gap-opening satellite tidal torque removes gas on a similar time scale (10⁴-10⁵ years) as the orbital decay time of midsized (200-700 km) regular satellites forming in the inner disk (inside the centrifugal radius (I. Mosqueira and P.R. Estrada, 2003, Icarus, this issue)). We argue that Saturn’s satellite system bridges the gap between those of Jupiter and Uranus by combining the formation of a Galilean-sized satellite in a gas optically thick subnebula with a strong temperature gradient, and the formation of smaller satellites, closer to the planet, in a disk with gas optical depth ?1, and a weak temperature gradient.Using an optically thick inner disk (given gaseous opacity), and an extended, quiescent, optically thin outer disk, we show that there are regions of the disk of small net tidal torque (even zero) where satellites (Iapetus-sized or larger) may stall far from the planet. For our model these outer regions of small net tidal torque correspond roughly to the locations of Callisto and Iapetus. Though the precise location depends on the (unknown) size of the transition region between the inner and outer disks, the result that Saturn’s is found much farther out (at ∼3rcS, where rcS is Saturn’s centrifugal radius) than Jupiter’s (at ∼ 2rcJ, where rcJ is Jupiter’s centrifugal radius) is mostly due to Saturn’s less massive outer disk and larger Hill radius. However, despite the large separation between Ganymede and Callisto and Titan and Iapetus, the long formation and migration time scales for Callisto and Iapetus (I. Mosqueira and P.R. Estrada, 2003, Icarus, this issue) makes it possible (depending on the details of the damping of acoustic waves) that the tidal torque of Ganymede and Titan clears the gas disk out to their location, thus stranding Callisto and Iapetus far from the planet. Either way, our model provides an explanation for the presence of regular satellites outside the centrifugal radii of Jupiter and Saturn, and the absence of such a satellite for Uranus.     

First operation of bulk micromegas in low pressure negative ion drift gas mixtures for dark matter searches

A bulk micromegas micropattern charge readout device has, for the first time, been operated at room temperature in low pressure carbon disulphide vapour. This is a key step opening prospects for use of micromegas readout for large volume negative ion time projection chambers (TPCs) without magnets, such as proposed for directional dark matter detectors and other rare event applications. The dependence of the gain on the amplification field, pressure and drift field has been evaluated. For the available gap size of 75 μm a maximum gain of 1300 ± 120 was achieved in 40 torr vapour with an energy resolution of 22% for 5.9 keV ⁵⁵Fe X-rays. From a fit to the data, the Townsend coefficient gas parameters A and B have been derived. Operation has also been successfully achieved in xenon:carbon disulphide blends over a range of partial and total pressures. A gain of 890 ± 130 at an energy resolution of 35% has been recorded for a 1:1 blend at a total pressure of 80 torr. Possible improvements are discussed in the context of operation in directional dark matter TPCs as a replacement for multi-wire proportional counters.     

常顶瓦斯油吸附法脱除微量氯的实验研究

炼油厂将常压塔顶油和减一线油作为重整原料,但由于氯含量过高(30×10-6)无法利用,传统方法是将其中的有机氯转化为无机氯化氢后脱除,但其对加氢催化剂有毒害,采用常顶瓦斯油吸附法可直接脱除微量氯.     

Scaling vesicle distributions and volcanic eruptions

Models of coalescence-decompressive expansion of the later stages of bubble growth predict that for diverse types of volcanic products the vesicle number densities (n(V)) are of the scaling form where V is the volume of the vesicles and B₃ the 3-dimensional scaling (power law) exponent. We analyze cross sections of 9 pumice samples showing that over the range of bubble sizes from 10 m to 3 cm, they are well fit with B₃0.85. We show that to within experimental error, this exponent is the same as that reported in the literature for basaltic lavas, and other volcanic products. The importance of the scaling of vesicle distributions is highlighted by the observation that they are particularly effective at packing bubbles allowing very high vesicularities to be reached before the critical percolation threshold, a process which—for highly stressed magmas—would trigger explosion. In this way the scaling of the bubble distributions allows them to be key actors in determining the rheological properties and in eruption dynamics.Editorial responsibility: D. Dingwell     

断层气Rn、Hg时值序列中的潮汐波分量

本文采用潮汐波最优谱分析法,对武山观测点断层气Rn、Hg时值资料进行了计算分析。结果表明,断层气Rn、Hg时值序列中存在着与理论固体潮相一致的半日波和日波分量,说明上述两种气体组分浓度的变化能够反映地壳岩石的应力、应变。本文的研究结果为用断层气预报地震的研究提供了一定的理论依据。     

塔里木盆地柯克亚地区天然气和凝析油的地球化学特征与成区

柯克亚气田的油气成因复杂，对原油和可能烃源岩的分子标志物特征进行了剖析，在凝析油中检测到3-甲基甾烷，不含4-甲基甾烷，富含重排藿烷和C30^-未知萜烷．表明油源主要来自于二叠系源岩。柯克亚的天然气重烃含量高，属湿气，乙烷碳同位素偏重；天然气氩同位素和成熟度特征均指示混源气特征，通过气源判识天然气主要来源于石炭系一二叠系源岩，部分来源于侏罗系源岩。天然气的乙烷δ^13C值明显重于凝析油全油δ^13C值，揭示柯克亚地区凝析油和天然气分属不同来源。     

青海省尕斯库勒盐湖卤水水化学特征初步研究

通过尕斯库勒盐湖3种卤水(盐田卤水、晶间卤水和湖表卤水)的水化学成分、化学类型、相图研究,初步揭示了该湖不同类型卤水的水化学特征。研究表明,3种卤水的Ca2+、Mg2+、Cl-、SO24-、HCO3-均比柴达木盆地盐湖平均值高,尤以盐田卤水为高,然而K+、Na+相对较低。微量离子均匀性:晶间卤水>湖表卤水>盐田卤水;主要离子均匀性:湖表卤水>晶间卤水>盐田卤水。卤水划分为硫酸镁亚型和氯化物型两类,没有发现硫酸钠亚型和碳酸盐型。其中,盐田卤水全部为氯化物型;晶间卤水既有硫酸镁亚型也有氯化物型,硫酸镁亚型占41.67%,氯化物型占58.33%;湖表卤水大部分为氯化物型。总体而言,卤水变质程度较深,其中盐田卤水变质最深,湖表卤水次之,晶间卤水变质程度较浅。盐田卤水、晶间卤水、湖表卤水在Na+,K+,Mg2+∥Cl-,SO24--H2O五元体系介稳相图中的位置差别较大,表明各类卤水在演化阶段上存在较大差别。     

Methane sources in gas hydrate-bearing cold seeps: Evidence from radiocarbon and stable isotopes

Fossil methane from the large and dynamic marine gas hydrate reservoir has the potential to influence oceanic and atmospheric carbon pools. However, natural radiocarbon (¹⁴C) measurements of gas hydrate methane have been extremely limited, and their use as a source and process indicator has not yet been systematically established. In this study, gas hydrate-bound and dissolved methane recovered from six geologically and geographically distinct high-gas-flux cold seeps was found to be 98 to 100% fossil based on its ¹⁴C content. Given this prevalence of fossil methane and the small contribution of gas hydrate (≤ 1%) to the present-day atmospheric methane flux, non-fossil contributions of gas hydrate methane to the atmosphere are not likely to be quantitatively significant. This conclusion is consistent with contemporary atmospheric methane budget calculations.In combination with δ¹³C- and δD-methane measurements, we also determine the extent to which the low, but detectable, amounts of ¹⁴C (~ 1–2% modern carbon, pMC) in methane from two cold seeps might reflect in situ production from near-seafloor sediment organic carbon (SOC). A ¹⁴C mass balance approach using fossil methane and ¹⁴C-enriched SOC suggests that as much as 8 to 29% of hydrate-associated methane carbon may originate from SOC contained within the upper 6 m of sediment. These findings validate the assumption of a predominantly fossil carbon source for marine gas hydrate, but also indicate that structural gas hydrate from at least certain cold seeps contains a component of methane produced during decomposition of non-fossil organic matter in near-surface sediment.     

青藏高原多年冻土区天然气水合物的研究前景和建议

天然气将是２１世纪的主要能源品种,作为非常规天然气水合物被誉为２１世纪的新能源。它的研究受到世界上许多国家的高度重视。青藏高原羌塘多年冻土区具备形成重烃类天然气水合物的温度和压力条件,同时可以存在由“自保护效应”引起民的轻烃类天然怕事物。开展青藏高原多年冻土区天然气水合物研究,对我国宏观能源战略决策、开拓新学科 领域和保持人类社会可持续发展的均有重要理论意义和广阔的应用前景。从目前人才结构、资料积