Natural gas hydrate widely exists in the South China Sea as clean energy.A three-phase transition layer widely exists in low permeability Class I hydrates in the Shenhu offshore area.Therefore,taking into account the ...Natural gas hydrate widely exists in the South China Sea as clean energy.A three-phase transition layer widely exists in low permeability Class I hydrates in the Shenhu offshore area.Therefore,taking into account the low-permeability characteristics with an average permeability of 5.5 mD and moderate heterogeneity,a 3-D geological model of heterogeneous Class I hydrate reservoirs with three-phase transition layers is established by Kriging interpolation and stochastic modeling method,and a numerical simulation model is used to describe the depressurization production performance of the reservoir.With the development of depressurization,a specific range of complete decomposition zones appear both in the hydrate and transition layers.The entire decomposition zone of the whole reservoir tends to outward and upward diffusion.There is apparent methane escape in the three-phase transition layer.Due to the improvement of local permeability caused by the phase transition of hydrate dissociation,some methane accumulation occurs at the bottom of the hydrate layer,forming a local methane enrichment zone.The methane migration trends in reservoirs are mainly characterized by movement toward production wells and hydrate layers under the influence of gravity.However,due to the permeability limitation of hydrate reservoirs,many fluids have not been effectively produced and remain in the reservoir.Therefore,to improve the effective pressure drop of the reservoir,the perforation method and pressure reduction method were optimized by analyzing the influencing factors based on the gas production rate.The comparative study demonstrates that perforating through the free gas layer combined with one-time depressurization can enhance the effective depressurization and improve production performance.The gas production rate from perforating through the free gas layer can be twice as high as that from perforating through the transition layer.This study can provide theoretical support for the utilization of marine energy.展开更多
Field tests have demonstrated that depressurization with controlled sand production is an effective technique for natural gas hydrate extraction.Variations in depositional environments and processes result in signific...Field tests have demonstrated that depressurization with controlled sand production is an effective technique for natural gas hydrate extraction.Variations in depositional environments and processes result in significant heterogeneity within subsea natural gas hydrate-bearing sediments.However,the influence of permeability heterogeneity on production performance during depressurization with controlled sand production remains inadequately understood.In this study,a multiphase,multi-component mathematical model is developed to simulate depressurization with controlled sand production in methane hydrate-bearing sediments,incorporating geological conditions representative of unconsolidated argillaceous siltstone hydrate deposits in the Shenhu area of the South China Sea.The effects of permeability heterogeneity-specifically,horizontal autocorrelation length and global permeability heterogeneity-on production performance during depressurization with sand production are investigated using geostatistical modeling combined with finite difference method based numerical simulations.Results show that as the horizontal autocorrelation length of permeability distribution increases,cumulative gas production first rises and then declines,reaching its peak at λ_(Dh)=0.1,whereas sand production steadily increases.In addition,higher formation permeability heterogeneity results in increased cumulative gas and sand production,suggesting that greater heterogeneity promotesmethane hydrate decomposition and gas recovery.These findings can offer valuable insights for optimizing future field development of hydrate-bearing sediments by depressurization with controlled sand production.展开更多
The National Gas Hydrate Program expeditions(NGHP-01 and-02)have conclusively proven the presence of hydrate deposits on the eastern coast of India.The novelty of the present study lies in its investigation of the ric...The National Gas Hydrate Program expeditions(NGHP-01 and-02)have conclusively proven the presence of hydrate deposits on the eastern coast of India.The novelty of the present study lies in its investigation of the richest gas hydrate deposit(hydrate saturation[Sh]>0.75),NGHP-01-10D,in the Krishna-Godavari(KG)Basin,India.The study presents a first look at the long-term gas production viability using a single vertical well,subjected to variations in production interval and bottom hole pressure.Specifically,we compared the gas production at bottom hole pressures of 3-6 MPa and production intervals of 20-40 m.The results indicate production rates that are technically feasible but lower than commercially acceptable standards.Increasing the bottom hole pressure drawdown from 6 MPa to 3 MPa increased the gas production from 1297 m^(3)/d to 4902 m^(3)/d(i.e.,more than tripling the average daily gas production).Meanwhile,while expanding the production interval from 20 m to 40 m led to an increase in gas production,it also resulted in higher water production.As a result,the average gas-to-water ratio(RGW)decreased from 9.5 to 5.3 with the expansion of the production interval,thereby highlighting the need to optimize the interval length.Furthermore,the spatial evolution of certain thermodynamic parameters,including pressure,temperature,and phase saturation(methane,water,and hydrate),underscores the critical role of heat transfer from the UB.Our study findings offer valuable insights for long-term production forecasting,the delineation of phase evolution patterns,and the identification of potential flow barriers that may impede deliverability.展开更多
Methane hydrate is considered as a potential energy source in the future due to its abundant reserves and high energy density.To investigate the influence of initial hydrate saturation,production pressure,and the temp...Methane hydrate is considered as a potential energy source in the future due to its abundant reserves and high energy density.To investigate the influence of initial hydrate saturation,production pressure,and the temperature of thermal stimulation on gas production rate and cumulative gas production percentage,we conducted the methane hydrate dissociation experiments using depressurization,thermal stimulation and a combination of two methods in this study.It is found that when the gas production pressures are the same,the higher the hydrate initial saturation,the greater change in hydrate reservoir temperature.Therefore,it is easier to appear the phenomenon of icing and hydrate reformation when the hydrate saturation is higher.For example,the reservoir temperature dropped to below zero in depressurization process when the hydrate saturation was about 37%.However,the same phenomenon didn’t appear as the saturation was about 12%.This may be due to more free gas in the reservoir with hydrate saturated of 37%.We also find that the temperature variation of reservoir can be reduced effectively by combination of depressurization and thermal stimulation method.And the average gas production rate is highest with combined method in the experiments.When the pressure of gas production is 2 MPa,compared with depressurization,the average of gas production can increase 54%when the combined method is used.The efficiency of gas production is very low when thermal stimulation was used alone.When the temperature of thermal stimulation is 11℃,the average rate of gas production in the experiment of thermal stimulation is less than 1/3 of that in the experiment of the combined method.展开更多
The decomposition behaviors of methane hydrate below the ice melting point in porous media with different particle size and different pore size were studied.The silica gels with the particle size of 105–150μm,150–...The decomposition behaviors of methane hydrate below the ice melting point in porous media with different particle size and different pore size were studied.The silica gels with the particle size of 105–150μm,150–200μm and 300–450μm,and the mean pore diameters of 12.95 nm,17.96 nm and 33.20 nm were used in the experiments.Methane recovery and temperature change curves were determined for each experiment.The hydrate decomposition process in the experiments can be divided into the depressurization period and the isobaric period.The temperature in the system decreases quickly in the depressurization process with the hydrate decomposition and reaches the lowest point in the isobaric period.The hydrate decomposition in porous media below ice-melting point is very fast and no self-perseveration effect is observed.The hydrate decomposition is influenced both by the driving force and the initial hydrate saturation.In the experiments with the high hydrate saturation,the hydrate decomposition will stop when the pressure reaches the equilibrium dissociation pressure.The stable pressure in the experiment with high hydrate saturation exceeds the equilibrium dissociation pressure of bulk hydrate and increases with the decrease of the pore size.展开更多
A new method is proposed to produce gas from oceanic gas hydrate reservoir by combining the ocean surface warm water flooding with depressurization which can efficiently utilize the synthetic effects of thermal, salt ...A new method is proposed to produce gas from oceanic gas hydrate reservoir by combining the ocean surface warm water flooding with depressurization which can efficiently utilize the synthetic effects of thermal, salt and depressurization on gas hydrate dissociation. The method has the advantage of high efficiency, low cost and enhanced safety. Based on the proposed conceptual method, the physical and mathematical models are established, in which the effects of the flow of multiphase fluid, the kinetic process of hydrate dissociation, the endothermic process of hydrate dissociation, ice-water phase equilibrium, salt inhibition, dispersion, convection and conduction on the hydrate disso- ciation and gas and water production are considered. The gas and water rates, formation pressure for the combination method are compared with that of the single depressurization, which is referred to the method in which only depres- surization is used. The results show that the combination method can remedy the deficiency of individual producing methods. It has the advantage of longer stable period of high gas rate than the single depressurization. It can also reduce the geologic hazard caused by the formation defor- mation due to the maintaining of the formation pressure by injected ocean warm water.展开更多
In this study, a numerical model is developed to investigate the hydrate dissociation and gas production in porous media by depressurization. A series of simulation runs are conducted to study the impacts of permeabil...In this study, a numerical model is developed to investigate the hydrate dissociation and gas production in porous media by depressurization. A series of simulation runs are conducted to study the impacts of permeability characteristics, including permeability reduction exponent, absolute permeability, hydrate accumulation habits and hydrate saturation, sand average grain size and irreducible water saturation. The effects of the distribution of hydrate in porous media are examined by adapting conceptual models of hydrate accumulation habits into simulations to govern the evolution of permeability with hydrate decomposition, which is also compared with the conventional reservoir permeability model, i.e. Corey model. The simulations show that the hydrate dissociation rate increases with the decrease of permeability reduction exponent, hydrate saturation and the sand average grain size. Compared with the conceptual models of hydrate accumulation habits, our simulations indicate that Corey model overpredicts the gas production and the performance of hydrate coating models is superior to that of hydrate filling models in gas production, which behavior does follow by the order of capillary coating〉pore coating〉pore filling〉capillary filling. From the analysis of tl/2, some interesting results are suggested as follows： （1） there is a ＂switch＂ value （the ＂switch＂ absolute permeability） for laboratory-scale hydrate dissociation in porous media, the absolute permeability has almost no influence on the gas production behavior when the permeability exceeds the ＂switch＂ value. In this study, the ＂switch＂ value of absolute permeability can be estimated to be between 10 and 50 md. （2） An optimum value of initial effective water saturation Sw,e exists where hydrate dissociation rate reaches the maximum and the optimum value largely coincides with the value of irreducible water saturation Swr,e. For the case of Sw,e〈,Swr,e, or Sw,e〉Swr,e, there are different control mechanisms dominating the process of hydrate dissociation and gas production.展开更多
Natural gas hydrate, as a potential energy resource, deposits in permafrost and marine sediment with large quantities. The current exploitation methods include depressurization, thermal stimulation, and inhibitor inje...Natural gas hydrate, as a potential energy resource, deposits in permafrost and marine sediment with large quantities. The current exploitation methods include depressurization, thermal stimulation, and inhibitor injection. However, many issues have to be resolved before the commercial production. In the present study, a 2-D axisymmetric simulator for gas production from hydrate reservoirs is developed. The simulator includes equations of conductive and convective heat transfer, kinetic of hydrate decomposition, and multiphase flow. These equations are discretized based on the finite difference method and are solved with the fully implicit simultaneous solution method. The process of laboratory-scale hydrate decomposition by depressurization is simulated. For different surrounding temperatures and outlet pressures, time evolutions of gas and water generations during hydrate dissociation are evaluated, and variations of temperature, pressure, and multiphase fluid flow conditions are analyzed. The results suggest that the rate of heat transfer plays an important role in the process. Furthermore, high surrounding temperature and low outlet valve pressure may increase the rate of hydrate dissociation with insignificant impact on final cumulative gas volume.展开更多
In addition to the temperature and pressure conditions,the pore fluid composition and migration behavior are also crucial to control hydrate decomposition in the exploitation process.In this work,to investigate the ef...In addition to the temperature and pressure conditions,the pore fluid composition and migration behavior are also crucial to control hydrate decomposition in the exploitation process.In this work,to investigate the effects of these factors,a series of depressurization experiments were carried out in a visible one-dimensional reactor,using hydrate reservoir samples with water saturations ranging from 20%to 65%.The results showed a linear relationship between gas production rates and gas saturations of the reservoir,suggesting that a larger gas-phase space was conducive to hydrate decomposition and gas outflow.Therefore,the rapid water production in the early stage of hydrate exploitation could release more gas-phase space in the water-rich reservoir,which in turn improved the gas production efficiency.Meanwhile,the spatiotemporal evolution of pore fluids could lead to partial accelerated decomposition or secondary formation of hydrates.In the unsealed reservoir,the peripheral water infiltration kept reservoir at a high water saturation,which hindered the overall production process and caused higher water production.Importantly,depressurization assisted with the N2 sweep could displace the pore water rapidly.According to the results,it is recommended that using the short-term N2 sweep as an auxiliary means in the early stage of depressurization to expand the gas-phase space in order to achieve the highest production efficiency.展开更多
With the implementation of the production tests in permafrost and offshore regions in Canada,US,Japan,and China,the study of natural gas hydrate has progressed into the stage of technology development for industrial e...With the implementation of the production tests in permafrost and offshore regions in Canada,US,Japan,and China,the study of natural gas hydrate has progressed into the stage of technology development for industrial exploitation.The depressurization method is considered as a better strategy to produce gas from hydrate reservoirs based on production tests and laboratory experiments.Multi-well production is proposed to improve gas production efficiency,to meet the requirement for industrial production.For evaluating the applicability of multi-well production to hydrate exploitation,a 2D model is established,with numerical simulations of the performance of the multi-well pattern carried out.To understand the dissociation behavior of gas hydrate,the pressure and temperature distributions in the hydrate reservoir are specified,and the change in permeability of reservoir sediments is investigated.The results obtained indicate that multi-well production can improve the well connectivity,accelerate hydrate dissociation,enhance gas production rate and reduce water production as compared with single-well production.展开更多
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...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.展开更多
Natural gas hydrates(NGHs)are a new type of clean energy with great development potential.However,it is urgent to achieve safe and economical NGHs development and utilization.This study established a physical model of...Natural gas hydrates(NGHs)are a new type of clean energy with great development potential.However,it is urgent to achieve safe and economical NGHs development and utilization.This study established a physical model of the study area using the FLAC^(3D) software based on the key parameters of the NGHs production test area in the South China Sea,including the depressurization method,and mechanical parameters of strata,NGHs occurrence characteristics,and the technological characteristics of horizontal wells.Moreover,this study explored the law of influences of the NGHs dissociation range on the stability of the overburden strata and the casing structure of a horizontal well.The results are as follows.With the dissociation of NGHs,the overburden strata of the NGHs dissociation zone subsided and formed funnelshaped zones and then gradually stabilized.However,the upper interface of the NGHs dissociation zone showed significant redistribution and discontinuity of stress.Specifically,distinct stress concentration and corresponding large deformation occurred in the build-up section of the horizontal well,which was thus prone to suffering shear failure.Moreover,apparent end effects occurred at the end of the horizontal well section and might cause the deformation and failure of the casing structure.Therefore,it is necessary to take measures in the build-up section and at the end of the horizontal section of the horizontal well to prevent damage and ensure the wellbore safety in the long-term NGHs exploitation.展开更多
Different from oil and gas production,hydrate reservoirs are shallow and unconsolidated,whose mechanical properties deteriorate with hydrate decomposition.Therefore,the formations will undergo significant subsidence d...Different from oil and gas production,hydrate reservoirs are shallow and unconsolidated,whose mechanical properties deteriorate with hydrate decomposition.Therefore,the formations will undergo significant subsidence during depressurization,which will destroy the original force state of the production well.However,existing research on the stability of oil and gas production wells assumes the formation to be stable,and lacks consideration of the force exerted on the hydrate production well by formation subsidence caused by hydrate decomposition during production.To fill this gap,this paper proposes an analytical method for the dynamic evolution of the stability of hydrate production well considering the effects of hydrate decomposition.Based on the mechanical model of the production well,the basis for stability analysis has been proposed.A multi-field coupling model of the force state of the production well considering the effect of hydrate decomposition and formation subsidence is established,and a solver is developed.The analytical approach is verified by its good agreement with the results from the numerical method.A case study found that the decomposition of hydrate will increase the pulling-down force and reduce the supporting force,which is the main reason for the stability deterioration.The higher the initial hydrate saturation,the larger the reservoir thickness,and the lower the production pressure,the worse the stability or even instability.This work can provide a theoretical reference for the stability maintaining of the production well.展开更多
The surface area of hydrate during dissociation in porous media is essentially important for the kinetics of hydrate dissociation.In this study,the methane hydrate surface area was investigated by the comparison resul...The surface area of hydrate during dissociation in porous media is essentially important for the kinetics of hydrate dissociation.In this study,the methane hydrate surface area was investigated by the comparison results of experiments and numerical simulations during hydrate decomposition in porous media.The experiments of methane hydrate depressurizationinduced dissociation were performed in a 1D high pressure cell filled with glass beads,an improved and valid 1D corescale numerical model was developed to simulate gas production.Two conceptual models for hydrate dissociation surface area were proposed based on the morphology of hydrate in porous media,which formed the functional form of the hydrate dissociation surface area with porosity,hydrate saturation and the average radius of sand sediment particles.With the establishment of numerical model for depressurizationinduced hydrate dissociation in porous media,the cumulative gas productions were modeling and compared with the experimental data at the different hydrate saturations.The results indicated that the proposed prediction equations are valid for the hydrate dissociation surface area,and the graincoating surface area model performs well at lower hydrate saturation for hydrate dissociation simulation,whereas at higher hydrate saturation,the hydrate dissociation simulation from the porefilling surface area model is more reasonable.Finally,the sensitivity analysis showed that the hydrate dissociation surface area has a significant impact on the cumulative gas production.展开更多
Natural gas hydrate has huge reserves and is widely distributed in marine environment.Its commercial development is of great significance for alleviating the contradiction between energy supply and demand.As an effici...Natural gas hydrate has huge reserves and is widely distributed in marine environment.Its commercial development is of great significance for alleviating the contradiction between energy supply and demand.As an efficient research method,numerical simulation can provide valuable insights for the design and optimization of hydrate development.However,most of the current production models simplify the reservoir as a two-dimensional(2D)horizontal layered model,often ignoring the impact of formation dip angle.To improve the accuracy of production prediction and provide theoretical support for the optimization of production well design,two three-dimensional(3D)geological models with different dip angles based on the geological data from two typical sites are constructed.The vertical well,horizontal well and multilateral wells are deployed in these reservoirs with different permeabilities to perform production trial,and the sensitivity analysis of dip angles is also carried out.The short-term production behaviors in high and low permeability reservoirs with different dip angles are exhibited.The simulation results show that 1)the gas and water production behaviors for different well types in the two typical reservoirs show obviously different variation laws when the short-term depressurization is conducted in the inclined formation;2)the inclined formation will reduce the gas production and increase the water extraction,and the phenomena becomes pronounced as the dip angle increases,particularly in the low-permeability reservoirs;3)and the impact of formation dip on hydrate recovery does not change significantly with the variation of well type.展开更多
Carbon emission reduction and clean energy development are urgent demands for mankind in the coming decades.Exploring an efficient CO_(2) storage method can significantly reduce CO_(2) emissions in the short term.In t...Carbon emission reduction and clean energy development are urgent demands for mankind in the coming decades.Exploring an efficient CO_(2) storage method can significantly reduce CO_(2) emissions in the short term.In this study,we attempted to construct sediment samples with different residual CH_(4) hydrate amounts and reservoir conditions,and then investigate the potentials of both CO_(2) storage and enhanced CH_(4) recovery in depleted gas hydrate deposits in the permafrost and ocean zones,respectively.The results demonstrate that CO_(2) hydrate formation rate can be significantly improved due to the presence of residual hydrate seeds;However,excessive residual hydrates in turn lead to the decrease in CO_(2) storage efficiency.Affected by the T-P conditions of the reservoir,the storage amount of liquid CO_(2) can reach 8 times that of gaseous CO_(2),and CO_(2) stored in hydrate form reaches 2-4 times.Additionally,we noticed two other advantages of this method.One is that CO_(2) injection can enhance CH_(4) recovery rate and increases CH_(4) recovery by 10%-20%.The second is that hydrate saturation in the reservoir can be restored to 20%-40%,which means that the solid volume of the reservoir avoids serious shrinkage.Obviously,this is crucial for protecting the goaf stability.In summary,this approach is greatly promising for high-efficient CO_(2) storage and safe exploitation of gas hydrate.展开更多
Reservoir stability is a key factor in the production of natural gas hydrate(NGH),and also a prerequisite to ensuring safe and efficient NGH production.However,it has been rarely discussed.To analyze the reservoir sta...Reservoir stability is a key factor in the production of natural gas hydrate(NGH),and also a prerequisite to ensuring safe and efficient NGH production.However,it has been rarely discussed.To analyze the reservoir stability in the process of NGH production by depressurization in the Shenhu area of the South China Sea,we established a 3D geological model of NGH production by depressurization on the basis of NGH drilling data in this area,which was then discretized by means of nonstructural grid.Then,the mathematical model coupling four fields(i.e.thermal,hydraulic,solid and chemical)was established considering the heat and mass transfer process and sediment transformation process during NGH production.The model was solved by the finite element method together with the nonstructural grid technology,and thus the time-space evolution characteristics of reservoir pore pressure,temperature,NGH saturation and stress in the condition of NGH production by depressurization were determined.Finally,reservoir subsidence,stress distribution and stability in the process of NGH production by depressurization in the Shenhu area were analyzed.The results obtained are as follows.First,the higher the reservoir permeability and the larger the bottomhole pressure drop amplitude are,the larger the subsidence amount and the higher the subsiding speed.Second,as the reservoir pore pressure decreases in the process of production,the effective stress increases and the shear stress near the well increases obviously,resulting in shear damage easily.Third,the increase of effective reservoir stress leads to reservoir subsidence,which mainly occurs in the early stage of NGH production.After the production for 60 days,the maximum reservoir subsidence reached 32 mm and the maximum subsidence of seabed surface was 14 mm.In conclusion,the NGH reservoirs in the Shenhu area of the South China Sea are of low permeability and the effect range of reservoir pressure drop is limited,so the reservoirs would not suffer from shear damage in the sixty-day-production period.展开更多
Numerical simulations on consolidation effects have been carried out for gas production from offshore methane hydrates (MH) layers and subsidence at seafloor. MH dissociation is affected by not only MH equilibrium lin...Numerical simulations on consolidation effects have been carried out for gas production from offshore methane hydrates (MH) layers and subsidence at seafloor. MH dissociation is affected by not only MH equilibrium line but also consolidation (mechanical compaction) depended on depressurization in the MH reservoir. Firstly, to confirm present model on consolidation with effective stress, the history matching on gas production and consolidation has been done to the experimental results using with synthetic sand MH core presented by Sakamoto et al. (2009). In addition, the comparisons of numerical simulation results of present and Kurihara et al. (2009) were carried out to check applicability of present models for gas production from MH reservoir in field scale by depressurization method. The delays of pressure propagation in the MH reservoir and elapsed time at peak gas production rate were predicted by considering consolidation effects by depressurization method. Finally, seabed subsidence during gas production from MH reservoirs was numerically simulated. The maximum seabed subsidence has been predicted to be roughly 0.5 to 2 m after 50 days of gas production from MH reservoirs that elastic modulus is 400 to 100 MPa at MH saturation = 0.展开更多
RELAP5 （reactor excursion and leak analysis program, version 5） code analyses were performed on two ROSA/LSTF （rig of safety assessment/large scale test facility） experiments on PWR （pressurized water reactor） s...RELAP5 （reactor excursion and leak analysis program, version 5） code analyses were performed on two ROSA/LSTF （rig of safety assessment/large scale test facility） experiments on PWR （pressurized water reactor） safety system that simulated cold leg small-break loss-of-coolant accidents with 8-in. or 4-in. diameter break using SG （steam generator） secondary-side depressurization. The SG depressurization was initiated by fully opening the depressurization valves in both SGs immediately after a safety injection signal. In the 8-in. break test, loop seal clearing occurred and then core uncovery and heatup took place by core boil-off. Core collapsed liquid level recovered after the initiation of accumulator coolant injection, and long-term core cooling was ensured by the actuation of low-pressure injection system. In the 4-in. break test, on the other hand, there was no core uncovery and heatup due to smaller break flow rate than in the 8-in. break test. Adjustment of Cd （break discharge coefficient） for two-phase discharge flow predicted the break flow rate reasonably well. The code well predicted the overall trend of the major thermal-hydraulic response observed in the two LSTF tests by the Cd adjustment. The code, however, overpredicted the peak cladding temperature because of underprediction of the core collapsed liquid level due to inadequate prediction of the accumulator flow rate in the 8-in. break case.展开更多
The second production test of natural gas hydrate(referred to as hydrate)reservoir in the Shenhu sea area of the northern South China Sea shows that horizontal wells have greater potential than vertical wells in the d...The second production test of natural gas hydrate(referred to as hydrate)reservoir in the Shenhu sea area of the northern South China Sea shows that horizontal wells have greater potential than vertical wells in the depressurization production of hydrate reservoirs,but the length of horizontal section to achieve remarkable development effect has not been determined.To this end,a set of production simulation experiment device was independently designed.After the influences of horizontal well section length on gas and water production behaviors and temperature and pressure change laws during the depressurization development of hydrate reservoirs were studied by means of physical experiment,an equal-scale numerical simulation model was established by numerical simulation method.And based on history matching,the change laws of hydrate saturation and gas saturation were analyzed.And the following conclusions were reached.First,for the hydrate reservoirs where water and hydrate coexist,a great amount of high-pressure movable water is produced in the early stage of depressurization development while the formation pressure drops quickly and hydrates are mostly dissociated.In the later stage of depressurization development,there is no stable heat supply.Therefore,the gas production rate presents a trend of fast rise to the peak in the early stage and then concussive decline.Second,horizontal well can effectively increase the water and gas drainage areas,so the longer the horizontal well section is,the higher the peak gas production rate and cumulative gas production are and the shorter time it takes to reach the peak gas production rate,but the faster the gas production decline is in the case of no heat supply.Third,an obvious low hydrate saturation area is formed near the horizontal well,so a long horizontal section is helpful to enlarge the hydrate dissociation area,but in the later stage of depressurization development,there are still a lot of undissociated hydrates in hydrate reservoirs,so the development mode shall be modified to further promote the dissociation of hydrates.Fourth,due to the heat transfer of cap rocks and the gas/water gravity difference,a secondary gas cap is formed easily in the process of depressurization development,so if the horizontal well is drilled near the upper part of a hydrate reservoir,the overlay of dissociated gas can be alleviated,and consequently the production and development effect of dissociated gas are improved.展开更多
基金supported by the Sinopec Technology Research and Development Project(No.30000000-22-ZC0607-0235,No.33550000-22-ZC0607-0009)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.52334002).
文摘Natural gas hydrate widely exists in the South China Sea as clean energy.A three-phase transition layer widely exists in low permeability Class I hydrates in the Shenhu offshore area.Therefore,taking into account the low-permeability characteristics with an average permeability of 5.5 mD and moderate heterogeneity,a 3-D geological model of heterogeneous Class I hydrate reservoirs with three-phase transition layers is established by Kriging interpolation and stochastic modeling method,and a numerical simulation model is used to describe the depressurization production performance of the reservoir.With the development of depressurization,a specific range of complete decomposition zones appear both in the hydrate and transition layers.The entire decomposition zone of the whole reservoir tends to outward and upward diffusion.There is apparent methane escape in the three-phase transition layer.Due to the improvement of local permeability caused by the phase transition of hydrate dissociation,some methane accumulation occurs at the bottom of the hydrate layer,forming a local methane enrichment zone.The methane migration trends in reservoirs are mainly characterized by movement toward production wells and hydrate layers under the influence of gravity.However,due to the permeability limitation of hydrate reservoirs,many fluids have not been effectively produced and remain in the reservoir.Therefore,to improve the effective pressure drop of the reservoir,the perforation method and pressure reduction method were optimized by analyzing the influencing factors based on the gas production rate.The comparative study demonstrates that perforating through the free gas layer combined with one-time depressurization can enhance the effective depressurization and improve production performance.The gas production rate from perforating through the free gas layer can be twice as high as that from perforating through the transition layer.This study can provide theoretical support for the utilization of marine energy.
基金funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(grant number 2023YFC3009204)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(grant number 52174015).
文摘Field tests have demonstrated that depressurization with controlled sand production is an effective technique for natural gas hydrate extraction.Variations in depositional environments and processes result in significant heterogeneity within subsea natural gas hydrate-bearing sediments.However,the influence of permeability heterogeneity on production performance during depressurization with controlled sand production remains inadequately understood.In this study,a multiphase,multi-component mathematical model is developed to simulate depressurization with controlled sand production in methane hydrate-bearing sediments,incorporating geological conditions representative of unconsolidated argillaceous siltstone hydrate deposits in the Shenhu area of the South China Sea.The effects of permeability heterogeneity-specifically,horizontal autocorrelation length and global permeability heterogeneity-on production performance during depressurization with sand production are investigated using geostatistical modeling combined with finite difference method based numerical simulations.Results show that as the horizontal autocorrelation length of permeability distribution increases,cumulative gas production first rises and then declines,reaching its peak at λ_(Dh)=0.1,whereas sand production steadily increases.In addition,higher formation permeability heterogeneity results in increased cumulative gas and sand production,suggesting that greater heterogeneity promotesmethane hydrate decomposition and gas recovery.These findings can offer valuable insights for optimizing future field development of hydrate-bearing sediments by depressurization with controlled sand production.
文摘The National Gas Hydrate Program expeditions(NGHP-01 and-02)have conclusively proven the presence of hydrate deposits on the eastern coast of India.The novelty of the present study lies in its investigation of the richest gas hydrate deposit(hydrate saturation[Sh]>0.75),NGHP-01-10D,in the Krishna-Godavari(KG)Basin,India.The study presents a first look at the long-term gas production viability using a single vertical well,subjected to variations in production interval and bottom hole pressure.Specifically,we compared the gas production at bottom hole pressures of 3-6 MPa and production intervals of 20-40 m.The results indicate production rates that are technically feasible but lower than commercially acceptable standards.Increasing the bottom hole pressure drawdown from 6 MPa to 3 MPa increased the gas production from 1297 m^(3)/d to 4902 m^(3)/d(i.e.,more than tripling the average daily gas production).Meanwhile,while expanding the production interval from 20 m to 40 m led to an increase in gas production,it also resulted in higher water production.As a result,the average gas-to-water ratio(RGW)decreased from 9.5 to 5.3 with the expansion of the production interval,thereby highlighting the need to optimize the interval length.Furthermore,the spatial evolution of certain thermodynamic parameters,including pressure,temperature,and phase saturation(methane,water,and hydrate),underscores the critical role of heat transfer from the UB.Our study findings offer valuable insights for long-term production forecasting,the delineation of phase evolution patterns,and the identification of potential flow barriers that may impede deliverability.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(51436003,51822603,51576025)the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2017YFC0307303,2016YFC0304001)+1 种基金the Fok Ying Tong Education Foundation for Young Teachers in the Higher Education Institutions of China(161050)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China(DUT18ZD403)
文摘Methane hydrate is considered as a potential energy source in the future due to its abundant reserves and high energy density.To investigate the influence of initial hydrate saturation,production pressure,and the temperature of thermal stimulation on gas production rate and cumulative gas production percentage,we conducted the methane hydrate dissociation experiments using depressurization,thermal stimulation and a combination of two methods in this study.It is found that when the gas production pressures are the same,the higher the hydrate initial saturation,the greater change in hydrate reservoir temperature.Therefore,it is easier to appear the phenomenon of icing and hydrate reformation when the hydrate saturation is higher.For example,the reservoir temperature dropped to below zero in depressurization process when the hydrate saturation was about 37%.However,the same phenomenon didn’t appear as the saturation was about 12%.This may be due to more free gas in the reservoir with hydrate saturated of 37%.We also find that the temperature variation of reservoir can be reduced effectively by combination of depressurization and thermal stimulation method.And the average gas production rate is highest with combined method in the experiments.When the pressure of gas production is 2 MPa,compared with depressurization,the average of gas production can increase 54%when the combined method is used.The efficiency of gas production is very low when thermal stimulation was used alone.When the temperature of thermal stimulation is 11℃,the average rate of gas production in the experiment of thermal stimulation is less than 1/3 of that in the experiment of the combined method.
基金Supported by Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China(51736009)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(51476174,51576202and 51376183)+2 种基金National Key Research and Development Plan of China(2016YFC0304002)Special Project for Marine Economy Development of Guangdong Province(GDME-2018D002)Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province,China(2017A030313301)
文摘The decomposition behaviors of methane hydrate below the ice melting point in porous media with different particle size and different pore size were studied.The silica gels with the particle size of 105–150μm,150–200μm and 300–450μm,and the mean pore diameters of 12.95 nm,17.96 nm and 33.20 nm were used in the experiments.Methane recovery and temperature change curves were determined for each experiment.The hydrate decomposition process in the experiments can be divided into the depressurization period and the isobaric period.The temperature in the system decreases quickly in the depressurization process with the hydrate decomposition and reaches the lowest point in the isobaric period.The hydrate decomposition in porous media below ice-melting point is very fast and no self-perseveration effect is observed.The hydrate decomposition is influenced both by the driving force and the initial hydrate saturation.In the experiments with the high hydrate saturation,the hydrate decomposition will stop when the pressure reaches the equilibrium dissociation pressure.The stable pressure in the experiment with high hydrate saturation exceeds the equilibrium dissociation pressure of bulk hydrate and increases with the decrease of the pore size.
文摘A new method is proposed to produce gas from oceanic gas hydrate reservoir by combining the ocean surface warm water flooding with depressurization which can efficiently utilize the synthetic effects of thermal, salt and depressurization on gas hydrate dissociation. The method has the advantage of high efficiency, low cost and enhanced safety. Based on the proposed conceptual method, the physical and mathematical models are established, in which the effects of the flow of multiphase fluid, the kinetic process of hydrate dissociation, the endothermic process of hydrate dissociation, ice-water phase equilibrium, salt inhibition, dispersion, convection and conduction on the hydrate disso- ciation and gas and water production are considered. The gas and water rates, formation pressure for the combination method are compared with that of the single depressurization, which is referred to the method in which only depres- surization is used. The results show that the combination method can remedy the deficiency of individual producing methods. It has the advantage of longer stable period of high gas rate than the single depressurization. It can also reduce the geologic hazard caused by the formation defor- mation due to the maintaining of the formation pressure by injected ocean warm water.
基金supported by the National Science and Technology Major Project,China (Grant No. 2011ZX05026-004-07)the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program,Grant No. 2006AA09209-5)Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Program,Grant No. 2009CB219507)
文摘In this study, a numerical model is developed to investigate the hydrate dissociation and gas production in porous media by depressurization. A series of simulation runs are conducted to study the impacts of permeability characteristics, including permeability reduction exponent, absolute permeability, hydrate accumulation habits and hydrate saturation, sand average grain size and irreducible water saturation. The effects of the distribution of hydrate in porous media are examined by adapting conceptual models of hydrate accumulation habits into simulations to govern the evolution of permeability with hydrate decomposition, which is also compared with the conventional reservoir permeability model, i.e. Corey model. The simulations show that the hydrate dissociation rate increases with the decrease of permeability reduction exponent, hydrate saturation and the sand average grain size. Compared with the conceptual models of hydrate accumulation habits, our simulations indicate that Corey model overpredicts the gas production and the performance of hydrate coating models is superior to that of hydrate filling models in gas production, which behavior does follow by the order of capillary coating〉pore coating〉pore filling〉capillary filling. From the analysis of tl/2, some interesting results are suggested as follows： （1） there is a ＂switch＂ value （the ＂switch＂ absolute permeability） for laboratory-scale hydrate dissociation in porous media, the absolute permeability has almost no influence on the gas production behavior when the permeability exceeds the ＂switch＂ value. In this study, the ＂switch＂ value of absolute permeability can be estimated to be between 10 and 50 md. （2） An optimum value of initial effective water saturation Sw,e exists where hydrate dissociation rate reaches the maximum and the optimum value largely coincides with the value of irreducible water saturation Swr,e. For the case of Sw,e〈,Swr,e, or Sw,e〉Swr,e, there are different control mechanisms dominating the process of hydrate dissociation and gas production.
基金supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China(863 Program, Grant No.2006AA09A209-5)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Key Program,Grant No.50736001)the Major Research Project of Ministry of Education of China (Grant No.306005)
文摘Natural gas hydrate, as a potential energy resource, deposits in permafrost and marine sediment with large quantities. The current exploitation methods include depressurization, thermal stimulation, and inhibitor injection. However, many issues have to be resolved before the commercial production. In the present study, a 2-D axisymmetric simulator for gas production from hydrate reservoirs is developed. The simulator includes equations of conductive and convective heat transfer, kinetic of hydrate decomposition, and multiphase flow. These equations are discretized based on the finite difference method and are solved with the fully implicit simultaneous solution method. The process of laboratory-scale hydrate decomposition by depressurization is simulated. For different surrounding temperatures and outlet pressures, time evolutions of gas and water generations during hydrate dissociation are evaluated, and variations of temperature, pressure, and multiphase fluid flow conditions are analyzed. The results suggest that the rate of heat transfer plays an important role in the process. Furthermore, high surrounding temperature and low outlet valve pressure may increase the rate of hydrate dissociation with insignificant impact on final cumulative gas volume.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,China(Nos.52004136,22127812,U20B6005)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation,China(Nos.2020M670347,2021T140382)Guangdong MEPP Fund(No.GDNRC[2021]055).
文摘In addition to the temperature and pressure conditions,the pore fluid composition and migration behavior are also crucial to control hydrate decomposition in the exploitation process.In this work,to investigate the effects of these factors,a series of depressurization experiments were carried out in a visible one-dimensional reactor,using hydrate reservoir samples with water saturations ranging from 20%to 65%.The results showed a linear relationship between gas production rates and gas saturations of the reservoir,suggesting that a larger gas-phase space was conducive to hydrate decomposition and gas outflow.Therefore,the rapid water production in the early stage of hydrate exploitation could release more gas-phase space in the water-rich reservoir,which in turn improved the gas production efficiency.Meanwhile,the spatiotemporal evolution of pore fluids could lead to partial accelerated decomposition or secondary formation of hydrates.In the unsealed reservoir,the peripheral water infiltration kept reservoir at a high water saturation,which hindered the overall production process and caused higher water production.Importantly,depressurization assisted with the N2 sweep could displace the pore water rapidly.According to the results,it is recommended that using the short-term N2 sweep as an auxiliary means in the early stage of depressurization to expand the gas-phase space in order to achieve the highest production efficiency.
基金This work is funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China(Grant No.2017YFC0307603)the China Geological Survey(Grant No.DD20190234 and HD-JJHT-20).
文摘With the implementation of the production tests in permafrost and offshore regions in Canada,US,Japan,and China,the study of natural gas hydrate has progressed into the stage of technology development for industrial exploitation.The depressurization method is considered as a better strategy to produce gas from hydrate reservoirs based on production tests and laboratory experiments.Multi-well production is proposed to improve gas production efficiency,to meet the requirement for industrial production.For evaluating the applicability of multi-well production to hydrate exploitation,a 2D model is established,with numerical simulations of the performance of the multi-well pattern carried out.To understand the dissociation behavior of gas hydrate,the pressure and temperature distributions in the hydrate reservoir are specified,and the change in permeability of reservoir sediments is investigated.The results obtained indicate that multi-well production can improve the well connectivity,accelerate hydrate dissociation,enhance gas production rate and reduce water production as compared with single-well production.
基金This work was co-supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China(2017YFC0307603)the China Geological Survey project(DD20190234).
文摘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.
基金funded by the Key Special Project for Introduced Talents Team of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory(Guangzhou)(GML2019ZD0307)the gas hydrate program initiated by the China Geological Survey(DD20190218)the project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(11872365).
文摘Natural gas hydrates(NGHs)are a new type of clean energy with great development potential.However,it is urgent to achieve safe and economical NGHs development and utilization.This study established a physical model of the study area using the FLAC^(3D) software based on the key parameters of the NGHs production test area in the South China Sea,including the depressurization method,and mechanical parameters of strata,NGHs occurrence characteristics,and the technological characteristics of horizontal wells.Moreover,this study explored the law of influences of the NGHs dissociation range on the stability of the overburden strata and the casing structure of a horizontal well.The results are as follows.With the dissociation of NGHs,the overburden strata of the NGHs dissociation zone subsided and formed funnelshaped zones and then gradually stabilized.However,the upper interface of the NGHs dissociation zone showed significant redistribution and discontinuity of stress.Specifically,distinct stress concentration and corresponding large deformation occurred in the build-up section of the horizontal well,which was thus prone to suffering shear failure.Moreover,apparent end effects occurred at the end of the horizontal well section and might cause the deformation and failure of the casing structure.Therefore,it is necessary to take measures in the build-up section and at the end of the horizontal section of the horizontal well to prevent damage and ensure the wellbore safety in the long-term NGHs exploitation.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.51890914)。
文摘Different from oil and gas production,hydrate reservoirs are shallow and unconsolidated,whose mechanical properties deteriorate with hydrate decomposition.Therefore,the formations will undergo significant subsidence during depressurization,which will destroy the original force state of the production well.However,existing research on the stability of oil and gas production wells assumes the formation to be stable,and lacks consideration of the force exerted on the hydrate production well by formation subsidence caused by hydrate decomposition during production.To fill this gap,this paper proposes an analytical method for the dynamic evolution of the stability of hydrate production well considering the effects of hydrate decomposition.Based on the mechanical model of the production well,the basis for stability analysis has been proposed.A multi-field coupling model of the force state of the production well considering the effect of hydrate decomposition and formation subsidence is established,and a solver is developed.The analytical approach is verified by its good agreement with the results from the numerical method.A case study found that the decomposition of hydrate will increase the pulling-down force and reduce the supporting force,which is the main reason for the stability deterioration.The higher the initial hydrate saturation,the larger the reservoir thickness,and the lower the production pressure,the worse the stability or even instability.This work can provide a theoretical reference for the stability maintaining of the production well.
文摘The surface area of hydrate during dissociation in porous media is essentially important for the kinetics of hydrate dissociation.In this study,the methane hydrate surface area was investigated by the comparison results of experiments and numerical simulations during hydrate decomposition in porous media.The experiments of methane hydrate depressurizationinduced dissociation were performed in a 1D high pressure cell filled with glass beads,an improved and valid 1D corescale numerical model was developed to simulate gas production.Two conceptual models for hydrate dissociation surface area were proposed based on the morphology of hydrate in porous media,which formed the functional form of the hydrate dissociation surface area with porosity,hydrate saturation and the average radius of sand sediment particles.With the establishment of numerical model for depressurizationinduced hydrate dissociation in porous media,the cumulative gas productions were modeling and compared with the experimental data at the different hydrate saturations.The results indicated that the proposed prediction equations are valid for the hydrate dissociation surface area,and the graincoating surface area model performs well at lower hydrate saturation for hydrate dissociation simulation,whereas at higher hydrate saturation,the hydrate dissociation simulation from the porefilling surface area model is more reasonable.Finally,the sensitivity analysis showed that the hydrate dissociation surface area has a significant impact on the cumulative gas production.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.42372361 and 51904280)the Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2018YFE0126400).
文摘Natural gas hydrate has huge reserves and is widely distributed in marine environment.Its commercial development is of great significance for alleviating the contradiction between energy supply and demand.As an efficient research method,numerical simulation can provide valuable insights for the design and optimization of hydrate development.However,most of the current production models simplify the reservoir as a two-dimensional(2D)horizontal layered model,often ignoring the impact of formation dip angle.To improve the accuracy of production prediction and provide theoretical support for the optimization of production well design,two three-dimensional(3D)geological models with different dip angles based on the geological data from two typical sites are constructed.The vertical well,horizontal well and multilateral wells are deployed in these reservoirs with different permeabilities to perform production trial,and the sensitivity analysis of dip angles is also carried out.The short-term production behaviors in high and low permeability reservoirs with different dip angles are exhibited.The simulation results show that 1)the gas and water production behaviors for different well types in the two typical reservoirs show obviously different variation laws when the short-term depressurization is conducted in the inclined formation;2)the inclined formation will reduce the gas production and increase the water extraction,and the phenomena becomes pronounced as the dip angle increases,particularly in the low-permeability reservoirs;3)and the impact of formation dip on hydrate recovery does not change significantly with the variation of well type.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,China(22378424,52004136,22127812,U20B6005)the Science Foundation of China University of Petroleum Beijing(2462023BJRC017)Hunan Provincial Department of Education Scientific Research Project(22B0310).
文摘Carbon emission reduction and clean energy development are urgent demands for mankind in the coming decades.Exploring an efficient CO_(2) storage method can significantly reduce CO_(2) emissions in the short term.In this study,we attempted to construct sediment samples with different residual CH_(4) hydrate amounts and reservoir conditions,and then investigate the potentials of both CO_(2) storage and enhanced CH_(4) recovery in depleted gas hydrate deposits in the permafrost and ocean zones,respectively.The results demonstrate that CO_(2) hydrate formation rate can be significantly improved due to the presence of residual hydrate seeds;However,excessive residual hydrates in turn lead to the decrease in CO_(2) storage efficiency.Affected by the T-P conditions of the reservoir,the storage amount of liquid CO_(2) can reach 8 times that of gaseous CO_(2),and CO_(2) stored in hydrate form reaches 2-4 times.Additionally,we noticed two other advantages of this method.One is that CO_(2) injection can enhance CH_(4) recovery rate and increases CH_(4) recovery by 10%-20%.The second is that hydrate saturation in the reservoir can be restored to 20%-40%,which means that the solid volume of the reservoir avoids serious shrinkage.Obviously,this is crucial for protecting the goaf stability.In summary,this approach is greatly promising for high-efficient CO_(2) storage and safe exploitation of gas hydrate.
基金supported by Marine Geological Survey Program(No:DD20160219)National Key R&D Program of China(No.2017YFC0307600)+2 种基金financially supported by Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology(No.QNLM2016ORP0207)Taishan Scholar Special Experts Project(No.ts201712079)the Special Funding Project for Post-doctoral Innovation Project of Shandong Province funded the project.
文摘Reservoir stability is a key factor in the production of natural gas hydrate(NGH),and also a prerequisite to ensuring safe and efficient NGH production.However,it has been rarely discussed.To analyze the reservoir stability in the process of NGH production by depressurization in the Shenhu area of the South China Sea,we established a 3D geological model of NGH production by depressurization on the basis of NGH drilling data in this area,which was then discretized by means of nonstructural grid.Then,the mathematical model coupling four fields(i.e.thermal,hydraulic,solid and chemical)was established considering the heat and mass transfer process and sediment transformation process during NGH production.The model was solved by the finite element method together with the nonstructural grid technology,and thus the time-space evolution characteristics of reservoir pore pressure,temperature,NGH saturation and stress in the condition of NGH production by depressurization were determined.Finally,reservoir subsidence,stress distribution and stability in the process of NGH production by depressurization in the Shenhu area were analyzed.The results obtained are as follows.First,the higher the reservoir permeability and the larger the bottomhole pressure drop amplitude are,the larger the subsidence amount and the higher the subsiding speed.Second,as the reservoir pore pressure decreases in the process of production,the effective stress increases and the shear stress near the well increases obviously,resulting in shear damage easily.Third,the increase of effective reservoir stress leads to reservoir subsidence,which mainly occurs in the early stage of NGH production.After the production for 60 days,the maximum reservoir subsidence reached 32 mm and the maximum subsidence of seabed surface was 14 mm.In conclusion,the NGH reservoirs in the Shenhu area of the South China Sea are of low permeability and the effect range of reservoir pressure drop is limited,so the reservoirs would not suffer from shear damage in the sixty-day-production period.
文摘Numerical simulations on consolidation effects have been carried out for gas production from offshore methane hydrates (MH) layers and subsidence at seafloor. MH dissociation is affected by not only MH equilibrium line but also consolidation (mechanical compaction) depended on depressurization in the MH reservoir. Firstly, to confirm present model on consolidation with effective stress, the history matching on gas production and consolidation has been done to the experimental results using with synthetic sand MH core presented by Sakamoto et al. (2009). In addition, the comparisons of numerical simulation results of present and Kurihara et al. (2009) were carried out to check applicability of present models for gas production from MH reservoir in field scale by depressurization method. The delays of pressure propagation in the MH reservoir and elapsed time at peak gas production rate were predicted by considering consolidation effects by depressurization method. Finally, seabed subsidence during gas production from MH reservoirs was numerically simulated. The maximum seabed subsidence has been predicted to be roughly 0.5 to 2 m after 50 days of gas production from MH reservoirs that elastic modulus is 400 to 100 MPa at MH saturation = 0.
文摘RELAP5 （reactor excursion and leak analysis program, version 5） code analyses were performed on two ROSA/LSTF （rig of safety assessment/large scale test facility） experiments on PWR （pressurized water reactor） safety system that simulated cold leg small-break loss-of-coolant accidents with 8-in. or 4-in. diameter break using SG （steam generator） secondary-side depressurization. The SG depressurization was initiated by fully opening the depressurization valves in both SGs immediately after a safety injection signal. In the 8-in. break test, loop seal clearing occurred and then core uncovery and heatup took place by core boil-off. Core collapsed liquid level recovered after the initiation of accumulator coolant injection, and long-term core cooling was ensured by the actuation of low-pressure injection system. In the 4-in. break test, on the other hand, there was no core uncovery and heatup due to smaller break flow rate than in the 8-in. break test. Adjustment of Cd （break discharge coefficient） for two-phase discharge flow predicted the break flow rate reasonably well. The code well predicted the overall trend of the major thermal-hydraulic response observed in the two LSTF tests by the Cd adjustment. The code, however, overpredicted the peak cladding temperature because of underprediction of the core collapsed liquid level due to inadequate prediction of the accumulator flow rate in the 8-in. break case.
基金supported by the Basic Research and Strategic Reserve Technical Research Fund for Affiliates directly under CNPC“Basic Research on Drilling and Completion of Horizontal Wells for Developing Offshore Natural Gas Hydrate”(No.:2019D-5008-02).
文摘The second production test of natural gas hydrate(referred to as hydrate)reservoir in the Shenhu sea area of the northern South China Sea shows that horizontal wells have greater potential than vertical wells in the depressurization production of hydrate reservoirs,but the length of horizontal section to achieve remarkable development effect has not been determined.To this end,a set of production simulation experiment device was independently designed.After the influences of horizontal well section length on gas and water production behaviors and temperature and pressure change laws during the depressurization development of hydrate reservoirs were studied by means of physical experiment,an equal-scale numerical simulation model was established by numerical simulation method.And based on history matching,the change laws of hydrate saturation and gas saturation were analyzed.And the following conclusions were reached.First,for the hydrate reservoirs where water and hydrate coexist,a great amount of high-pressure movable water is produced in the early stage of depressurization development while the formation pressure drops quickly and hydrates are mostly dissociated.In the later stage of depressurization development,there is no stable heat supply.Therefore,the gas production rate presents a trend of fast rise to the peak in the early stage and then concussive decline.Second,horizontal well can effectively increase the water and gas drainage areas,so the longer the horizontal well section is,the higher the peak gas production rate and cumulative gas production are and the shorter time it takes to reach the peak gas production rate,but the faster the gas production decline is in the case of no heat supply.Third,an obvious low hydrate saturation area is formed near the horizontal well,so a long horizontal section is helpful to enlarge the hydrate dissociation area,but in the later stage of depressurization development,there are still a lot of undissociated hydrates in hydrate reservoirs,so the development mode shall be modified to further promote the dissociation of hydrates.Fourth,due to the heat transfer of cap rocks and the gas/water gravity difference,a secondary gas cap is formed easily in the process of depressurization development,so if the horizontal well is drilled near the upper part of a hydrate reservoir,the overlay of dissociated gas can be alleviated,and consequently the production and development effect of dissociated gas are improved.
