水平对接井钻井技术在天然气水合物试采中的应用

2016年,在祁连山冻土区完成了天然气水合物试采水平对接井钻井施工,针对不同井段分别制定了合理的钻进参数及泥浆配方,采用MWD技术及慧磁中靶导向系统,实现了小曲率半径下精准对接,将水平对接井钻井技术成功应用于水合物试采,取得了良好的效果。水合物试采对接井钻井施工不同于可溶性矿藏,其对接精准度要求更高,施工难度更大,主要介绍了水合物水平对接井钻井施工工艺的相关内容。     

祁连山冻土区DK-9孔温度监测及天然气水合物稳定带厚度

祁连山冻土区木里盆地三露天井田自2008年首次钻采到天然气水合物实物样品以来,实现了中低纬度高山冻土区天然气水合物勘探的重大突破。天然气水合物钻孔DK-9于2013年发现水合物,通过对该孔长期地温实时监测,获得了稳态的地温数据。结果表明,祁连山多年冻土区聚乎更矿区三露天井田冻土层底界为约163 m,冻土层的厚度达约160 m,冻土层内的地温梯度为138 ℃ /100 m,冻土层以下的地温梯度达485 ℃/100 m。根据天然气水合物形成的温-压条件分析,聚乎更矿区具备较好的天然气水合物形成条件,天然气水合物稳定带底界深度处于510~617 m之间。     

琼东南盆地南部隆起带天然气水合物赋存特征分析

天然气水合物是21世纪最具潜力的接替煤炭、石油和天然气的新型洁净能源之一。我国南海蕴藏着丰富的水合物资源,目前已在南海北部陆坡神狐、东沙、海马区发现丰富的水合物资源。本文分析了琼东南盆地南部隆起带天然气水合物赋存的地质条件,开展了地球物理资料的分析与海底反射(BSR)识别,计算了水合物热动力学稳定带厚度。研究表明,琼东南盆地南部隆起带具备水合物赋存的地质条件,渗漏构造发育,游离气丰富,BSR表现为强振幅、不连续等特征,水合物稳定带厚度大,具有较大的天然气水合物资源潜力。     

Elastic-wave velocity characterization of gas hydrate-bearing fractured reservoirs in a permafrost area of the Qilian Mountain,Northwest China

There are two types of gas hydrate-bearing reservoirs in the permafrost area of Qilian Mountain. Most of the gas hydrates occur mainly in the fractured mudstone reservoirs and rarely in the pores of the sandstone reservoirs. In this study, for the acoustic velocity characterization of the fractured gas hydrate reservoirs of the Qilian Mountain permafrost area, some mudstone core samples were collected for physical rock experiments, such as the acoustic experiment and the porosity and permeability experiment. An acoustic velocity numerical simulation of gas hydrate reservoirs was performed according to the Biot theory and the differential effective medium theory, with the conditions of multiple gas hydrate occurrence models, including the suspension model, the semi-cementation model and the cementation model, and considering both infinite and penny-shaped cracks. Fracture porosity was added to the core samples that only contain matrix porosity. With fracture porosity ranging from 0.01% to 5%, the variation laws between acoustic velocity with fractured porosity and hydrate saturation are obtained: (1) In the case of an infinite crack, if the fractured porosity is 0.01%–1%, the P-wave velocity decreases rapidly in the case of the three occurrence models. If the fractured porosity is higher than 1%, the acoustic velocity decreases gradually. If the crack shape is a penny-shaped crack, the P-wave velocity decreases almost linearly with increasing fracture porosity. (2) If the hydrate occurrence model is the suspension model, the P-wave velocity increases slightly with increasing hydrate saturation. If the occurrence model is the semi-cementation model or the cementation model, when the gas hydrate saturation of the infinite crack ranges from 0 to 80%, the acoustic velocity increases approximately linearly, whereas when the gas hydrate saturation ranges from 80% to 100%, the velocity increases rapidly. If the crack is a penny-shaped crack, the velocity increases almost linearly with increasing gas hydrate saturation from 0 to 100%. (3) It is found that the fractured gas hydrate reservoirs of the Qilian Mountain permafrost area contain both penny-shaped and infinite cracks, of which the infinite crack is the main crack shape. The gas hydrate occurrence in the Qilian Mountain permafrost area mainly follows the suspension model. This has significance for the seismic exploration and log evaluation of gas hydrate-bearing fractured reservoirs in the permafrost area of the Qilian Mountain in studying the acoustic velocity characterization, the crack shapes and occurrence models of gas hydrate reservoirs in the study area.     

Mapping gas hydrate and fluid flow indicators and modeling gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) in the Ulleung Basin,East (Japan) Sea: Potential linkage between the occurrence of mass failures and gas hydrate dissociation

The Ulleung Basin, East (Japan) Sea, is well-known for the occurrence of submarine slope failures along its entire margins and associated mass-transport deposits (MTDs). Previous studies postulated that gas hydrates which broadly exist in the basin could be related with the failure process. In this study, we identified various features of slope failures on the margins, such as landslide scars, slide/slump bodies, glide planes and MTDs, from a regional multi-channel seismic dataset. Seismic indicators of gas hydrates and associated gas/fluid flow, such as the bottom-simulating reflector (BSR), seismic chimneys, pockmarks, and reflection anomalies, were re-compiled. The gas hydrate occurrence zone (GHOZ) within the slope sediments was defined from the BSR distribution. The BSR is more pronounced along the southwestern slope. Its minimal depth is about 100 m below seafloor (mbsf) at about 300 m below sea-level (mbsl). Gas/fluid flow and seepage structures were present on the seismic data as columnar acoustic-blanking zones varying in width and height from tens to hundreds of meters. They were classified into: (a) buried seismic chimneys (BSC), (b) chimneys with a mound (SCM), and (c) chimneys with a depression/pockmark (SCD) on the seafloor. Reflection anomalies, i.e., enhanced reflections below the BSR and hyperbolic reflections which could indicate the presence of gas, together with pockmarks which are not associated with seismic chimneys, and SCDs are predominant in the western-southwestern margin, while the BSR, BSCs and SCMs are widely distributed in the southern and southwestern margins. Calculation of the present-day gas-hydrate stability zone (GHSZ) shows that the base of the GHSZ (BGHSZ) pinches out at water depths ranging between 180 and 260 mbsl. The occurrence of the uppermost landslide scars which is below about 190 mbsl is close to the range of the GHSZ pinch-out. The depths of the BSR are typically greater than the depths of the BGHSZ on the basin margins which may imply that the GHOZ is not stable. Close correlation between the spatial distribution of landslides, seismic features of free gas, gas/fluid flow and expulsion and the GHSZ may suggest that excess pore-pressure caused by gas hydrate dissociation could have had a role in slope failures.     

Integrated core-log facies analysis and depositional model of the gas hydrate-bearing sediments in the northeastern continental slope,South China Sea

Host sediments may exert a significant influence on the formation of gas hydrate reservoirs. However, this issue has been largely neglected in the literature. In this study, we investigated the types, characteristics and the depositional model of the fine-grained gas hydrate-bearing sediments in the northeastern margin of the South China Sea by integrating core visual observations and logging-while-drilling downhole logs. The gas hydrate-bearing sediments consist dominantly of muddy sediments formed in the inter-canyon ridges of the upper continental slope, including hemipelagites, debrites (mud with breccia) and fine-grained turbidites. Cold-seep carbonates and associated slumping talus, muddy breccia debrites, as well as coarse-grained turbidites, may locally occur. Four classes and six sub-classes of log facies were defined by cluster analysis. Core-log correlation indicates that gas hydrates are majorly distributed in fine-grained sediments with high resistivity and low acoustic transit time (AC) log responses, which are easily differentiated from the fine-grained background sediments of high gamma-ray (GR), high AC, and low resistivity log values, and the seep carbonates characterized by low GR, high resistivity, high density, low AC and low porosity log values. The primary host sediments consist of fine-grained hemipelagic sediments formed by deposition from the nepheloid layers of river material and from the microfossils in seawater column. Most of the hemipelagic sediments, however, might have been extensively modified by slumping and associated gravity flow processes and were re-deposited in the forms of debrites and turbidites. Locally developed seep carbonates associated with gas hydrate dissociation and leakage provided additional sources for the gravity flow sediments.     

Time series video analysis of bubble release processes at natural hydrocarbon seeps in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

This research quantifies the rate and volume of oil and gas released from two natural seep sites in the Gulf of Mexico: lease blocks GC600 (1200 m depth) and MC118 (850 m depth). Our objectives were to determine variability in release rates and bubble size at five individual vents and to investigate the effects of tidal fluctuations on bubble release. Observations with autonomous video cameras captured the formation of individual bubbles as they were released through partially exposed deposits of gas hydrate. Image processing techniques determined bubble type (oily, gaseous, and mixed: oily and gaseous), size distribution, release rate, and temporal variations (observation intervals ranged from 3 h to 26 d). A semi-automatic bubble counting algorithm was developed to analyze bubble count and release rates from video data. This method is suitable for discrete vents with small bubble streams commonly seen at seeps and is adaptable to multiple in situ set-ups. Two vents at GC600 (Birthday Candles 1 and Birthday Candles 2) were analyzed. They released oily bubbles with an average diameter of 5.0 mm at a rate of 4.7 bubbles s⁻¹, and 1.3 bubbles s⁻¹, respectively. Approximately 1 km away, within the GC600 seep site, two more vents (Mega Plume 1 and Mega Plume 2) were analyzed. These vents released a mixture of oily and gaseous bubbles with an average diameter of 3.9 mm at a rate of 49 bubbles s⁻¹, and 81 bubbles s⁻¹, respectively. The fifth vent at MC118 (Rudyville) released gaseous bubbles with an average diameter of 3.0 mm at a rate of 127 bubbles s⁻¹. Pressure records at Mega Plume and Rudyville showed a diurnal tidal cycle (24.5 h). Rudyville was the only vent that demonstrated any positive correlation (ρ = 0.60) to the 24.5 h diurnal tidal cycle. However, these observations were not conclusive regarding tidal effects on bubble release.     

天然气水合物保压子取样装置压力特性研究

从海底采集的长柱状保压天然气水合物一般不能被直接分析,需要被切割成小段再转移。保压子取样装置是在天然气水合物保压转移系统的基础上研发的,该装置能够获取任意小尺寸的带压岩心,并将其转移到测试装置中进行原位检测。介绍保压子取样的总体结构和工作原理,并分析系统压力变化的趋势,然后利用AMESim软件对压力维持部分进行仿真,最后通过水合物转移实验,验证保压子取样技术的可行性。重点讨论了蓄能器对于系统压力维持能力的影响,得出预充压力越大蓄能器保压效果越好的结论。     

一个深海能源土弹塑性本构模型

天然气水合物赋存在低温高压环境中,会在土颗粒间形成胶结从而增大深海能源土抗剪强度。基于损伤力学理论,将结构性砂土本构模型推广应用于深海能源土分析中,模拟计算了三轴固结排水剪切试验,再根据应力-应变曲线关系定量反演初始屈服系数与水合物饱和度之间的函数关系,并修正了原有的结构性砂土破损规律,建立了深海能源土弹塑性本构模型。另外,根据该模型模拟了另外一组深海能源土三轴剪切试验和等向固结压缩试验。计算结果表明：新建立的深海能源土本构模型可以有效模拟深海能源土剪切强度随水合物饱和度之间的增长关系;随着水合物饱和度的增加,三轴压缩试验中深海能源土峰值强度及割线模量(E50)逐渐增加,等向固结压缩试验中屈服强度增加,与试验结果有较好的一致性,表明了该模型的合理性。