State-of-the-Art of Gas Hydrates and Relative Permeability of Hydrate Bearing Sediments |
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| Authors: | J Joseph P Kumar S K Dewri C Tandi J Singh |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, India;2. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, Keshava Deva Malviya Institute of Petroleum Exploration, Dehradun, India;3. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, Institute of Engineering and Ocean Technology, Panvel, India |
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| Abstract: | The methane gas production potential from its hydrates, which are solid clathrates, with methane gas entrapped inside the water molecules, is primarily dependent on permeability characteristics of their bearing sediments. Moreover, the dissociation of gas hydrates, which results in a multi-phase fluid migration through these sediments, becomes mandatory to determine the relative permeability of both gaseous and aqueous fluids corresponding to different hydrate saturations. However, in this context, the major challenges are: (1) obtaining undisturbed in-situ samples bearing gas hydrates; and (2) maintenance of the thermodynamic conditions to counter hydrate dissociation. One of the ways to overcome this situation is synthesis of gas hydrates in laboratory conditions, followed by conducting permeability tests on them. In addition, empirical relationships that relate permeability of the gas hydrate bearing sediments to pore-structure characteristics (viz., pore size distribution and interconnectivity) can also be conceived. With this in view, a comprehensive review of the literature dealing with different techniques adopted by researchers for synthesis of gas hydrates, permeability tests conducted on the sediments bearing them, and analytical and empirical correlations employed for determination of permeability of these sediments was conducted and a brief account of the same is presented in this article. |
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| Keywords: | Empirical relationships gas conductivity hydraulic conductivity indirect measurements laboratory synthesis methane gas hydrates |
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