Numerical studies of methane production from Class 1 gas hydrate accumulations enhanced with carbon dioxide injection

Class 1 gas hydrate accumulations are characterized by a permeable hydrate-bearing interval overlying a permeable interval with mobile gas, sandwiched between two impermeable intervals. Depressurization-induced dissociation is currently the favored technology for producing gas from Class 1 gas hydrate accumulations. The depressurization production technology requires heat transfer from the surrounding environment to sustain dissociation as the temperature drops toward the hydrate equilibrium point and leaves the reservoir void of gas hydrate. Production of gas hydrate accumulations by exchanging carbon dioxide with methane in the clathrate structure has been demonstrated in laboratory experiments and proposed as a field-scale technology. The carbon dioxide exchange technology has the potential for yielding higher production rates and mechanically stabilizing the reservoir by maintaining hydrate saturations. We used numerical simulation to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of using carbon dioxide injection to enhance the production of methane from Class 1 gas hydrate accumulations. Numerical simulations in this study were primarily concerned with the mechanisms and approaches of carbon dioxide injection to investigate whether methane production could be enhanced through this approach. To avoid excessive simulation execution times, a five-spot well pattern with a 500-m well spacing was approximated using a two-dimensional domain having well boundaries on the vertical sides and impermeable boundaries on the horizontal sides. Impermeable over- and under burden were included to account for heat transfer into the production interval. Simulation results indicate that low injection pressures can be used to reduce secondary hydrate formation and that direct contact of injected carbon dioxide with the methane hydrate present in the formation is limited due to bypass through the higher permeability gas zone.     

DEM simulations of methane hydrate exploitation by thermal recovery and depressurization methods

Methane hydrate (MH, also called fiery ice) exists in forms of pore filling, cementing and load-bearing skeleton in the methane hydrate bearing sediment (MHBS) and affects its mechanical behavior greatly. To study the changes of macro-scale and micro-scale mechanical behaviors of MHBS during exploitation by thermal recovery and depressurization methods, a novel 2D thermo-hydro-mechanical bonded contact model was proposed and implemented into a platform of distinct element method (DEM), PFC2D. MHBS samples were first biaxially compressed to different deviator stress levels to model different in-situ stress conditions. With the deviator stress maintained at constant, the temperature was then raised to simulate the thermal recovery process or the pore water pressure (i.e. confining pressure for MH bond) was decreased to simulate the depressurization process. DEM simulation results showed that: during exploitation, the axial strain increased with the increase of temperature (in the thermal recovery method) or decrease of pore water pressure (in the depressurization method); sample collapsed during MH dissociation if the deviator stress applied was larger than the compression strength of a pure host sand sample; sample experienced volume contraction but its void ratio was slightly larger than the pure host sand sample at the same axial strain throughout the test. By comparison with the laboratory test results, the new model was validated to be capable of reproducing the exploitation process by thermal recovery and depressurization methods. In addition, some micro-scale parameters, such as contact distribution, bond distribution, and averaged pure rotation rate, were also analyzed to investigate their relationships with the macroscopic responses.     

Analysis of formation pressure test results in the Mount Elbert methane hydrate reservoir through numerical simulation

Targeting the methane hydrate (MH) bearing units C and D at the Mount Elbert prospect on the Alaska North Slope, four MDT (Modular Dynamic Formation Tester) tests were conducted in February 2007. The C2 MDT test was selected for history matching simulation in the MH Simulator Code Comparison Study. Through history matching simulation, the physical and chemical properties of the unit C were adjusted, which suggested the most likely reservoir properties of this unit. Based on these properties thus tuned, the numerical models replicating “Mount Elbert C2 zone like reservoir”, “PBU L-Pad like reservoir” and “PBU L-Pad down dip like reservoir” were constructed. The long term production performances of wells in these reservoirs were then forecasted assuming the MH dissociation and production by the methods of depressurization, combination of depressurization and wellbore heating, and hot water huff and puff. The predicted cumulative gas production ranges from 2.16 × 10⁶ m³/well to 8.22 × 10⁸ m³/well depending mainly on the initial temperature of the reservoir and on the production method.This paper describes the details of modeling and history matching simulation. This paper also presents the results of the examinations on the effects of reservoir properties on MH dissociation and production performances under the application of the depressurization and thermal methods.     

岩石圈中水的临界奇异性——大规模成矿的根源

水的临界奇异性是岩石圈中许多重大地质作用的关键和枢纽,有独特的地质意义、超乎常识。水在临界点发生二级相变,许多物理化学性质奇异性突变,特别是溶解行为和热压的突变,对成矿作用影响极大。     

天然气水合物原位补热降压充填开采方法

天然气水合物资源量丰富,被公认为最有潜力的新型高效清洁替代能源,是未来能源革命的战略突破口。由于天然气水合物分解是伴随相变的复杂物理化学过程,安全经济地开采天然气水合物仍有许多瓶颈难题亟待解决。当前降压法是相对经济有效的开采方法,但天然气平均日产量远远达不到产业化开发的需求。在分析降压法规模化开采面临的瓶颈问题的基础上,提出了一种全新的天然气水合物开采方法原位补热降压充填开采法,重点剖析了该方法的3个基本原理,提出了该方法的开采技术方案、关键技术与工艺步骤。得出了如下结论:(1)天然气水合物降压法规模化开发需要突破“天然气水合物分解热补给”(补热)、“储层结构稳定性”(保稳)和“提高储层渗透率”(增渗)等3个方面的瓶颈难题;(2)基于“降压分解原理”、“原位补热原理”和“充填增渗原理”,提出了天然气水合物原位补热降压充填开采法,该方法将氧化钙(CaO)粉末注入天然气水合物储层,反应产生的大量热量补充天然气水合物的分解热,同时,反应生成的氢氧化钙(Ca(OH)2)既填充了天然气水合物分解后留下的空隙,多孔结构又提高了储层的渗透性;(3)提出了天然气水合物原位补热降压充填开采所涉及的具体技术方案、关键技术与工艺步骤。当前天然气水合物开采技术手段距离产业化开发的需求还有一定距离,未来需要加强国际科研合作,深度学科交叉,研发变革性技术,早日实现天然气水合物规模化开发。     

Surface settlements at a soft soil site due to bedrock dewatering

Construction of a 16-m deep, 55-m wide, almost square, underground structure through 8-m of soft soils and 8-m of sandstone and siltstone led to the development of widespread settlements. The affected area extended to distances of over 200 m from the perimeter of the structure. The floor slab of the underground structure was not designed for water pressure. Thus, operation of the structure requires continuous pumping of seepage water collected at a sump located at the lowermost elevation within the structure. Subsurface investigation and monitoring data obtained over 5.75-year period following the construction of the structure indicated that the settlement resulted from consolidation of soft soils due to depressurization of an aquifer within the underlying bedrock caused by continuous dewatering needed for the operation of the structure. An analytical study was undertaken to project the long term settlement. A simple analytical model could be used to simulate the complex hydrogeological problem reasonably. The details of hydrogeologic setting, subsurface investigation and monitoring activities, and the analytical model for projecting long-term settlements are presented in this paper.     

天然气水合物降压开采数值模拟研究

为揭示天然气水合物降压开采过程中水合物分解规律,建立了柱坐标系下水合物降压开采的物理模型和数学模型,应用有限差分法进行求解,并应用神狐海域试采数据进行了验证,进而分析了降压开采过程中压力、水合物饱和度、渗透率的变化规律以及多种边界条件下分解过渡带的移动规律,研究了不同降压开采参数对水合物分解过程的影响.结果表明：降压开始后,井眼周围迅速形成压降漏斗,随着开采时间的增加,压降漏斗向储层远处扩散;井眼处的水合物最先分解,随着开采时间的推进,水合物饱和度逐渐降低,储层渗透率逐渐增大;水合物饱和度降低的区域沿径向向外扩散,渗透率增大的区域也与之相应;过渡带外沿、内沿移动速度不同步,开采后期移动速度都变慢,分解过渡带宽度随着开采时间逐渐增大,到一定天数后趋于稳定;水合物降压开采的主要控制参数包括开采井压力、水合物初始饱和度、储层绝对渗透率、水合物分解动力学常数等;模拟水合物降压开采时,如果选择封闭型边界且半径较小,则所得出的模拟结果与实际开采情况会有较大的差别,甚至相悖.

     

Numercial simulation of sand production based on a grain scale microcosmic model for natural gas hydrate reservior

As a prerequisite and a guarantee for safe and efficient natural gas hydrates (NGHs) exploitation, it is imperative to effectively determine the mechanical properties of NGHs reservoirs and clarify the law of the change in the mechanical properties with the dissociation of NGHs during NGHs production tests by depressurization. Based on the development of Japan’s two offshore NGHs production tests in vertical wells, this study innovatively proposed a new subsea communication technology—accurate directional connection using a wet-mate connector. This helps to overcome the technical barrier to the communication between the upper and lower completion of offshore wells. Using this new communication technology, this study explored and designed a mechanical monitoring scheme for lower completion (sand screens). This scheme can be used to monitor the tensile stress and radial compressive stress of sand screens caused by NGHs reservoirs in real time, thus promoting the technical development for the rapid assessment and real-time feedback of the in-situ mechanical response of NGHs reservoirs during offshore NGHs production tests by depressurization.     

Sediment permeability change on natural gas hydrate dissociation induced by depressurization

The permeability of a natural gas hydrate reservoir is a critical parameter associated with gas hydrate production. Upon producing gas from a hydrate reservoir via depressurization, the permeability of sediments changes in two ways with hydrate dissociation, increasing with more pore space released from hydrate and decreasing due to pore compression by stronger effective stress related to depressurization. In order to study the evolution of sediment permeability during the production process with the depressurization method, an improved pore network model (PNM) method is developed to establish the permeability change model. In this model, permeability change induced by hydrate dissociation is investigated under hydrate occurrence morphology of pore filling and grain coating. The results obtained show that hydrate occurrence in sediment pore is with significant influence on permeability change. Within a reasonable degree of pore compression in field trial, the effect of pore space release on the reservoir permeability is greater than that of pore compression. The permeability of hydrate containing sediments keeps increasing in the course of gas production, no matter with what hydrate occurrence in sediment pore.     

Numerical modeling of methane gas production from hydrate reservoir of Krishna Godhavari basin by depressurization

Natural gas hydrates are considered as a strategic unconventional clean hydrocarbon resource in the energy sector. This paper analyzes the spatiotemporal effectiveness of the depressurization technique for producing methane gas from an unconfined Class 4 clayey setting in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin, east coast of India. The production potential of a well by depressurization based on the borehole-based pumping technique is modeled using the newly developed spatiotemporal numerical tool, IndHyd 1.0, built using MATLAB for a constant borehole ΔP. The model is aided by TOUGH+HYDRATE reservoir production simulation software. From the IndHyd 1.0 simulation results, it is identified that a vertical well in the location NGHP-01-10D could have a lateral well reach, longevity, and a cumulative methane gas production potential of 145?m, 1.2 years, and ～0.6 billion m³, respectively. For the formation with a postdissociation permeability of 200 mD, a possible scenario in the fractured settings, the well reach, longevity, and gas production potential could be 340?m, 3.6 years, and ～9 billion m³, respectively.