Geological risks are the main obstacles encountered during drilling in marine natural gas hydrate reservoirs.This review aims to provide a primary insight into the geological risks in the process of drilling in marine...Geological risks are the main obstacles encountered during drilling in marine natural gas hydrate reservoirs.This review aims to provide a primary insight into the geological risks in the process of drilling in marine hydrate reservoirs.Different geological risks and their characteristics will be analyzed,together with a discussion of possible influencing factors.Geological risks occurring in the marine natural gas drilling process have a close association with uncontrollable drilling fluid invasion and hydrate dissociation.Finally,the mechanisms of drilling risks and control strategies for safe drilling are highlighted.Results can give a reference to drilling risk prediction and control for drilling in marine natural gas hydrate reservoirs efficiently.展开更多
Gas hydrates are increasingly recognized as a significant unconventional energy resource and a key factor in marine geohazards and the global carbon cycle.However,accurately identifying and quantifying hydrate-bearing...Gas hydrates are increasingly recognized as a significant unconventional energy resource and a key factor in marine geohazards and the global carbon cycle.However,accurately identifying and quantifying hydrate-bearing formations remains challenging due to complex geophysical signatures and heterogeneous distribution.This study evaluates twelve supervised machine learning(ML)algorithms for two key tasks:Classification of hydrate-bearing layers and regression-based estimation of hydrate saturation,using well log and pore-water geochemical data from Site NGHP-01-19B.Two physically independent labeling frameworks are employed:One based on Archie's law using resistivity(1350 samples,29%hydratebearing),and another based on a three-phase velocity model(890 samples,25%hydrate-bearing).A diverse set of models,including tree-based ensembles(Decision Tree,Random Forest,GBDT,XGBoost,Light GBM,Cat Boost,Bagging,Ada Boost),kernel methods(SVM,SVR),instance-based learning(KNN),neural networks(MLP),and Gaussian Process models(GPR,GPC),are systematically compared using cross-validation and grid search.Ensemble methods consistently performed best in classification,with Ada Boost and GBDT,achieving test accuracies above 0.94(Archie)and 0.98(velocity-based).For regression,GPR delivered the most accurate hydrate saturation estimates(R2>0.99),while GBDT and Random Forest provided a strong balance of accuracy and computational efficiency.Notably,depth below seafloor(TDEP),though not a direct geophysical input,significantly enhanced model performance by acting as a proxy for stratigraphic and thermodynamic conditions.Group-based validation confirmed that random-sample splitting overestimates performance due to depth-wise autocorrelation,highlighting the importance of geologically informed model assessment.Overall,the consistent performance of ML models across both labeling schemes and input feature sets underscores their robustness and transferability,supporting their use as a reliable toolset for offshore gas hydrate reservoir characterization.展开更多
From 2021 to 2024,the WESTPAC Working Group“Complex Study of Gas Hydrates and Methane Fluxes in the Indo-Pacific Region”(Co SGas)advanced regional cooperation through multiple workshops and an expert network(Fig.1)....From 2021 to 2024,the WESTPAC Working Group“Complex Study of Gas Hydrates and Methane Fluxes in the Indo-Pacific Region”(Co SGas)advanced regional cooperation through multiple workshops and an expert network(Fig.1).On 13th March 2025,the international project“Methane Fluxes and their Impacts on Climate and Ecosystem in the Indo-Pacific Region(Me FIE,2025–2029)”was launched by the IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific(WESTPAC).Aligning with the UN Decade of Ocean Science,this collaboration unites scientists from 10 nations to address critical gaps in ocean-climate interactions(Fig.2).展开更多
This study was used oceanographic database in the Sea of Okhotsk between the period from 1929 to 2020(131286 stations).The paper used gas hydrate dissociation parameters for the“pure methane-seawater”system obtained...This study was used oceanographic database in the Sea of Okhotsk between the period from 1929 to 2020(131286 stations).The paper used gas hydrate dissociation parameters for the“pure methane-seawater”system obtained in the study by Dickens GR and Quinby-Hunt MS.The results have elucidated the spatiotemporal variability of distribution of such parameters at the upper boundary of the gas hydrate stability zone(GHSZ)as water temperature,salinity,and top depth of the stability zone.As the study has shown(based on average long-term spatial distributions),the minimum temperature and depth values of the GHSZ upper boundary in the Sea of Okhotsk occur off the western and southwestern parts of the water area.The maximum temperature and depth values of the GHSZ upper boundary are typical of the southeastern sea area and over the Kamchatka Peninsula slope.This study has also identified an area,where there are no thermobaric conditions for the emergence and stable existence of methane hydrates in the water column.The results presented agree well with the materials of observations conducted during expeditions and the previous data of predictive simulations for the Sea of Okhotsk.展开更多
Natural gas hydrates (NGH)is one of key future clean energy resources.Its industrialized development will help remit the huge demand of global natural gas,relieve the increasing pressure of the environment, and play a...Natural gas hydrates (NGH)is one of key future clean energy resources.Its industrialized development will help remit the huge demand of global natural gas,relieve the increasing pressure of the environment, and play a vital role in the green sustainable growth of human societies.Based on nearly two decades' studying on the reservoir characteristics in the South China Sea (SCS)and the knowledge of reservoir system,the China Geological Survey (CGS)conducted the first production test on an optimal target selected in Shenhu area SCS in 2017.Guided by the "three-phase control"exploitation theory which focused on formation stabilization,technologies such as formation fluid extraction,well drilling and completing, reservoir stimulating,sand controlling,environmental monitoring,monitoring and preventing of secondary formation of hydrates were applied.The test lasted for 60 days from May 10^th when starting to pump, drop pressure and ignite to well killing on July 9^th,with gas production of 3.09×10^5 m^3 in total,which is a world record with the longest continuous duration of gas production and maximal gas yield.This successful test brings a significant breakthrough on safety control of NGH production.展开更多
Sand production is a crucial problem during the process of extracting natural gas from hydrate reservoirs. To deal with sand-production problems systematically, a sand-production control system (SCS) is first proposed...Sand production is a crucial problem during the process of extracting natural gas from hydrate reservoirs. To deal with sand-production problems systematically, a sand-production control system (SCS) is first proposed in this paper, specialized for pore-distributed clayey silt hydrate reservoirs. Secondly, a nodal system analysis method (NSAM) is applied to analyze the sand migration process during hydrate exploitation. The SCS is divided into three sub-systems, according to different sand migration mechanisms, and three key scientific problems and advances in SCS research in China Geological Survey are reviewed and analyzed. The maximum formation sanding rate, proper sand-control gravel size, and borehole blockage risk position were provided for clayey hydrate exploitation wells based on the SCS analysis. The SCS sub-systems are closely connected via bilateral coupling, and coordination of the subsystems is the basis of maintaining formation stability and prolonging the gas production cycle. Therefore, contradictory mitigation measures between sand production and operational systems should be considered preferentially. Some novel and efficient hydrate exploitation methods are needed to completely solve the contradictions caused by sand production.展开更多
Raising the in situ decomposition rate of natural gas hydrate and increasing the decomposition contact area are two main ways to raise the productivity of hydrate. An exploitation technique based on large borehole wit...Raising the in situ decomposition rate of natural gas hydrate and increasing the decomposition contact area are two main ways to raise the productivity of hydrate. An exploitation technique based on large borehole with multi-lateral branches (LB & MB) was proposed in this paper. This technique is mainly intended for the clayey silt hydrate reservoir in the South China Sea, and its main purpose is to alleviate the sand output from formation for maintaining the stability of the reservoir and to greatly increase the gas productivity of the reservoir. In this paper, the following aspects were mainly expounded: definition of the basic geometric parameters for layout of multi-lateral branches in clayey silt hydrate reservoir, simulation of the stimulation effect of a typical well profile with two branches, and prediction and simulation of the reservoir failure risk in a well profile with eight branches. The results show that the LB & MB effectively improves the flow field in the formation, raises the productivity of the reservoir and may also help to decrease the produced water-gas ratio (WGR). When the lateral branches spacing is too small, the failure zones around adjacent lateral branches overlap each other, possibly causing reservoir failure in a larger range. Therefore, the geometric parameters of multi-lateral branches depend on the dual control of the productivity and geotechnical risk factor of reservoir. Further study is being carried out, so as to obtain the optimal combination of parameters of multi-lateral branches.展开更多
Sand production is one of the main obstacles restricting gas extraction efficiency and safety from marine natural gas hydrate(NGH)reservoirs.Particle migration within the NGH reservoir dominates sand production behavi...Sand production is one of the main obstacles restricting gas extraction efficiency and safety from marine natural gas hydrate(NGH)reservoirs.Particle migration within the NGH reservoir dominates sand production behaviors,while their relationships were rarely reported,severely constrains quantitative evaluation of sand production risks.This paper reports the optical observations of solid particle migration and production from micrometer to mesoscopic scales conditioned to gravel packing during depressurization-induced NGH dissociation for the first time.Theoretical evolutionary modes of sand migration are established based on experimental observations,and its implications on field NGH are comprehensively discussed.Five particle migration regimes of local borehole failure,continuous collapse,wormhole expansion,extensive slow deformation,and pore-wall fluidization are proved to occur during depressurization.The types of particle migration regimes and their transmission modes during depressurization are predominantly determined by initial hydrate saturation.In contrast,the depressurization mainly dominates the transmission rate of the particle migration regimes.Furthermore,both the cumulative mass and the medium grain size of the produced sand decrease linearly with increasing initial methane hydrate(MH)saturation.Discontinuous gas bubble emission,expansion,and explosion during MH dissociation delay sand migration into the wellbore.At the same time,continuous water flow is a requirement for sand production during hydrate dissociation by depressurization.The experiments enlighten us that a constitutive model that can illustrate visible particle migration regimes and their transmission modes is urgently needed to bridge numerical simulation and field applications.Optimizing wellbore layout positions or special reservoir treatment shall be important for mitigating sand production tendency during NGH exploitation.展开更多
This paper provides an overview of the developments in analytical and testing methods and experimental simulations on gas hydrate in China.In the laboratory,the analyses and experiments of gas hydrate can provide usef...This paper provides an overview of the developments in analytical and testing methods and experimental simulations on gas hydrate in China.In the laboratory,the analyses and experiments of gas hydrate can provide useful parameters for hydrate exploration and exploitation.In recent years,modem analytical instruments and techniques,including Laser Raman spectroscopy (Raman),X-ray diffraction (XRD),X-ray computed tomography (X-CT),scanning electron microscope (SEM),nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high pressure differential scanning calorimetry (DSC),were applied in the study of structure,formation mechanisms,phase equilibrium,thermal physical properties and so forth of gas hydrates.The detection technology and time-domain reflectometry (TDR)technique are integrated to the experimental devices to study the physical parameters of gas hydrates,such as the acoustics,resistivity,thermal,and mechanical properties.It is believed that the various analytical techniques together with the experimental simulations from large-scale to micro-scale on gas hydrate will play a significant role and provide a powerful support for future gas hydrate researches.展开更多
Understanding the pore water conversion characteristics during hydrate formation in porous media is important to study the accumulation mechanism of marine gas hydrate.In this study,low-field NMR was used to study the...Understanding the pore water conversion characteristics during hydrate formation in porous media is important to study the accumulation mechanism of marine gas hydrate.In this study,low-field NMR was used to study the pore water conversion characteristics during methane hydrate formation in unsaturated sand samples.Results show that the signal intensity of T2 distribution isn’t affected by sediment type and pore pressure,but is affected by temperature.The increase in the pressure of hydrogen-containing gas can cause the increase in the signal intensity of T2 distribution.The heterogeneity of pore structure is aggravated due to the hydrate formation in porous media.The water conversion rate fluctuates during the hydrate formation.The sand size affects the water conversion ratio and rate by affecting the specific surface of sand in unsaturated porous media.For the fine sand sample,the large specific surface causes a large gas-water contact area resulting in a higher water conversion rate,but causes a large water-sand contact area resulting in a low water conversion ratio(Cw=96.2%).The clay can reduce the water conversion rate and ratio,especially montmorillonite(Cw=95.8%).The crystal layer of montmorillonite affects the pore water conversion characteristics by hindering the conversion of interlayer water.展开更多
Global warming and the response to it have become a topic of concern in today’s society and are also a research focus in the global scientific community.As the world’s third pole,the global warming amplifier,and the...Global warming and the response to it have become a topic of concern in today’s society and are also a research focus in the global scientific community.As the world’s third pole,the global warming amplifier,and the starting region of China’s climate change,the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is extremely sensitive to climate change.The permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is rich in natural gas hydrates(NGHs)resources.Under the background of global warming,whether the NGHs will be disassociated and enter the atmosphere as the air temperature rises has become a major concern of both the public and the scientific community.Given this,this study reviewed the trend of global warming and accordingly summarized the characteristics of the temperature increase in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.Based on this as well as the distribution characteristics of the NGHs in the permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,this study investigated the changes in the response of the NGHs to global warming,aiming to clarify the impacts of global warming on the NGHs in the permafrost of the plateau.A noticeable response to global warming has been observed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.Over the past decades,the increase in the mean annual air temperature of the plateau was increasingly high and more recently.Specifically,the mean annual air temperature of the plateau changed at a rate of approximately 0.308-0.420℃/10a and increased by approximately 1.54-2.10℃in the past decades.Moreover,the annual mean ground temperature of the shallow permafrost on the plateau increased by approximately 1.155-1.575℃and the permafrost area decreased by approximately 0.34×106km2from about 1.4×106km2to 1.06×106km2in the past decades.As indicated by simulated calculation results,the thickness of the NGH-bearing permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has decreased by 29-39 m in the past 50 years,with the equivalent of(1.69-2.27)×1010-(1.12-1.51)×1012m3of methane(CH4)being released due to NGHs dissociation.It is predicted that the thickness of the NGH-bearing permafrost will decrease by 23 m and 27 m,and dissociated and released NGHs will be the equivalent of(1.34-88.8)×1010m3and(1.57-104)×1010m3of CH4,respectively by 2030 and 2050.Considering the positive feedback mechanism of NGHs on global warming and the fact that CH4has a higher greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide,the NGHs in the permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau will emit more CH4into the atmosphere,which is an important trend of NGHs under the background of global warming.Therefore,the NGHs are destructive as a time bomb and may lead to a waste of efforts that mankind has made in carbon emission reduction and carbon neutrality.Accordingly,this study suggests that human beings should make more efforts to conduct the exploration and exploitation of the NGHs in the permafrost of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,accelerate research on the techniques and equipment for NGHs extraction,storage,and transportation,and exploit the permafrost-associated NGHs while thawing them.The purpose is to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere and mitigate the atmospheric greenhouse effect,thus contributing to the global goal of peak carbon dioxide emissions and carbon neutrality.展开更多
How natural gas hydrates nucleate and grow is a crucial scientific question.The research on it will help solve practical problems encountered in hydrate accumulation,development,and utilization of hydrate related tech...How natural gas hydrates nucleate and grow is a crucial scientific question.The research on it will help solve practical problems encountered in hydrate accumulation,development,and utilization of hydrate related technology.Due to its limitations on both spatial and temporal dimensions,experiment cannot fully explain this issue on a micro-scale.With the development of computer technology,molecular simulation has been widely used in the study of hydrate formation because it can observe the nucleation and growth process of hydrates at the molecular level.This review will assess the recent progresses in molecular dynamics simulation of hydrate nucleation and growth,as well as the enlightening significance of these developments in hydrate applications.At the same time,combined with the problems encountered in recent hydrate trial mining and applications,some potential directions for molecular simulation in the research of hydrate nucleation and growth are proposed,and the future of molecular simulation research on hydrate nucleation and growth is prospected.展开更多
Gas hydrate is one kind of potential energy resources that is buried under deep seafloor or frozen areas.The first trial offshore production from the silty reservoir was conducted in the South China Sea by the China G...Gas hydrate is one kind of potential energy resources that is buried under deep seafloor or frozen areas.The first trial offshore production from the silty reservoir was conducted in the South China Sea by the China Geological Survey(CGS).During this test,there were many unique characteristics different from the sand reservoir,which was believed to be related to the clayed silt physical properties.In this paper,simulation experiments,facilities analysis,and theoretical calculation were used to confirm the hydrate structure,reservoir thermo-physical property,and bond water movement rule.And the behavior of how they affected production efficiency was analyzed.The results showed that:It was reasonable to use the structure I rather than structure II methane hydrate phase equilibrium data to make the production plan;the dissociation heat absorbed by hydrate was large enough to cause hydrate self-protection or reformation depend on the reservoir thermal transfer and gas supply;clayed silt got better thermal conductivity compared to coarse grain,but poor thermal convection especially with hydrate;clayed silt sediment was easy to bond water,but the irreducible water can be exchanged to free water under high production pressure,and the most obvious pressure range of water increment was 1.9–4.9 MPa.展开更多
Large amounts of gas hydrate are distributed in the northern slope of the South China Sea,which is a potential threat of methane leakage.Aerobic methane oxidation by methanotrophs,significant methane biotransformation...Large amounts of gas hydrate are distributed in the northern slope of the South China Sea,which is a potential threat of methane leakage.Aerobic methane oxidation by methanotrophs,significant methane biotransformation that occurs in sediment surface and water column,can effectively reduce atmospheric emission of hydrate-decomposed methane.To identify active aerobic methanotrophs and their methane oxidation potential in sediments from the Shenhu Area in the South China Sea,multi-day enrichment incubations were conducted in this study.The results show that the methane oxidation rates in the studied sediments were 2.03‒2.36μmol/gdw/d,which were higher than those obtained by sediment incubations from other areas in marine ecosystems.Thus the authors suspect that the methane oxidation potential of methanotrophs was relatively higher in sediments from the Shenhu Area.After the incubations family Methylococcaea(type I methanotrophs)mainly consisted of genus Methylobacter and Methylococcaea_Other were predominant with an increased proportion of 70.3%,whereas Methylocaldum decreased simultaneously in the incubated sediments.Collectively,this study may help to gain a better understanding of the methane biotransformation in the Shenhu Area.展开更多
Blockage in water-dominated flow pipelines due to hydrate reformation has been suggested as a potential safety issue during the hydrate production.In this work,flow velocity-dependent hydrate formation features are in...Blockage in water-dominated flow pipelines due to hydrate reformation has been suggested as a potential safety issue during the hydrate production.In this work,flow velocity-dependent hydrate formation features are investigated in a fluid circulation system with a total length of 39 m.A 9-m section pipe is transparent consisted of two complete rectangular loops.By means of pressurization with gas-saturated water,the system can gradually reach the equilibrium conditions.The result shows that the hydrates are delayed to appear as floccules or thin films covering the methane bubbles.When the circulation velocity is below 750 rpm,hydrate is finally deposited as a“hydrate bed”at upmost of inner wall,narrowing the flow channel of the pipeline.Nevertheless,no plugging is observed during all the experimental runs.The five stages of hydrate deposition are proposed based on the experimental results.It is also revealed that a higher driving pressure is needed at a lower flow rate.The driving force of hydrate formation from gas and water obtained by melting hydrate is higher than that from fresh water with no previous hydrate history.The authors hope that this work will be beneficial for the flow assurance of the following oceanic field hydrate recovery trials.展开更多
The Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate,Ministry of Natural Resources,established in 2012 belongs to Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology,China Geological Survey.Prof.Neng-you Wu is the Director of Laboratory and Prof.Yu-gua...The Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate,Ministry of Natural Resources,established in 2012 belongs to Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology,China Geological Survey.Prof.Neng-you Wu is the Director of Laboratory and Prof.Yu-guang Ye is the Director of Academic Committee(Fig.1).Now,the laboratory has been recognized as one of the leading laboratories in the world in terms of gas hydrate experimental technology.展开更多
基金jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(42506223,U25A20798)National Key Research and Development Program of China(2022YFC2806405)。
摘要Geological risks are the main obstacles encountered during drilling in marine natural gas hydrate reservoirs.This review aims to provide a primary insight into the geological risks in the process of drilling in marine hydrate reservoirs.Different geological risks and their characteristics will be analyzed,together with a discussion of possible influencing factors.Geological risks occurring in the marine natural gas drilling process have a close association with uncontrollable drilling fluid invasion and hydrate dissociation.Finally,the mechanisms of drilling risks and control strategies for safe drilling are highlighted.Results can give a reference to drilling risk prediction and control for drilling in marine natural gas hydrate reservoirs efficiently.
基金supported by the China Scholarship Council under the State Scholarship Fund(202506340082)the Key Project of Guangdong Provincial Key R&D Program(2023B1111050014)+3 种基金the Youth Promotion Project of the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province(2023A1515030280)the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation(2023A1515010926)the Guangzhou Science and Technology Plan Project(2024A04J9876)funded by China National Petroleum Corporation(CNPC,2024DQ02-0107)。
摘要Gas hydrates are increasingly recognized as a significant unconventional energy resource and a key factor in marine geohazards and the global carbon cycle.However,accurately identifying and quantifying hydrate-bearing formations remains challenging due to complex geophysical signatures and heterogeneous distribution.This study evaluates twelve supervised machine learning(ML)algorithms for two key tasks:Classification of hydrate-bearing layers and regression-based estimation of hydrate saturation,using well log and pore-water geochemical data from Site NGHP-01-19B.Two physically independent labeling frameworks are employed:One based on Archie's law using resistivity(1350 samples,29%hydratebearing),and another based on a three-phase velocity model(890 samples,25%hydrate-bearing).A diverse set of models,including tree-based ensembles(Decision Tree,Random Forest,GBDT,XGBoost,Light GBM,Cat Boost,Bagging,Ada Boost),kernel methods(SVM,SVR),instance-based learning(KNN),neural networks(MLP),and Gaussian Process models(GPR,GPC),are systematically compared using cross-validation and grid search.Ensemble methods consistently performed best in classification,with Ada Boost and GBDT,achieving test accuracies above 0.94(Archie)and 0.98(velocity-based).For regression,GPR delivered the most accurate hydrate saturation estimates(R2>0.99),while GBDT and Random Forest provided a strong balance of accuracy and computational efficiency.Notably,depth below seafloor(TDEP),though not a direct geophysical input,significantly enhanced model performance by acting as a proxy for stratigraphic and thermodynamic conditions.Group-based validation confirmed that random-sample splitting overestimates performance due to depth-wise autocorrelation,highlighting the importance of geologically informed model assessment.Overall,the consistent performance of ML models across both labeling schemes and input feature sets underscores their robustness and transferability,supporting their use as a reliable toolset for offshore gas hydrate reservoir characterization.
摘要From 2021 to 2024,the WESTPAC Working Group“Complex Study of Gas Hydrates and Methane Fluxes in the Indo-Pacific Region”(Co SGas)advanced regional cooperation through multiple workshops and an expert network(Fig.1).On 13th March 2025,the international project“Methane Fluxes and their Impacts on Climate and Ecosystem in the Indo-Pacific Region(Me FIE,2025–2029)”was launched by the IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific(WESTPAC).Aligning with the UN Decade of Ocean Science,this collaboration unites scientists from 10 nations to address critical gaps in ocean-climate interactions(Fig.2).
基金the POI FEB RAS,entitled“Study of the Structure and Dynamics of World’s Oceans Waters in Conditions of Current Climate Change”(reg.no.124022100079-4).
摘要This study was used oceanographic database in the Sea of Okhotsk between the period from 1929 to 2020(131286 stations).The paper used gas hydrate dissociation parameters for the“pure methane-seawater”system obtained in the study by Dickens GR and Quinby-Hunt MS.The results have elucidated the spatiotemporal variability of distribution of such parameters at the upper boundary of the gas hydrate stability zone(GHSZ)as water temperature,salinity,and top depth of the stability zone.As the study has shown(based on average long-term spatial distributions),the minimum temperature and depth values of the GHSZ upper boundary in the Sea of Okhotsk occur off the western and southwestern parts of the water area.The maximum temperature and depth values of the GHSZ upper boundary are typical of the southeastern sea area and over the Kamchatka Peninsula slope.This study has also identified an area,where there are no thermobaric conditions for the emergence and stable existence of methane hydrates in the water column.The results presented agree well with the materials of observations conducted during expeditions and the previous data of predictive simulations for the Sea of Okhotsk.
摘要Natural gas hydrates (NGH)is one of key future clean energy resources.Its industrialized development will help remit the huge demand of global natural gas,relieve the increasing pressure of the environment, and play a vital role in the green sustainable growth of human societies.Based on nearly two decades' studying on the reservoir characteristics in the South China Sea (SCS)and the knowledge of reservoir system,the China Geological Survey (CGS)conducted the first production test on an optimal target selected in Shenhu area SCS in 2017.Guided by the "three-phase control"exploitation theory which focused on formation stabilization,technologies such as formation fluid extraction,well drilling and completing, reservoir stimulating,sand controlling,environmental monitoring,monitoring and preventing of secondary formation of hydrates were applied.The test lasted for 60 days from May 10^th when starting to pump, drop pressure and ignite to well killing on July 9^th,with gas production of 3.09×10^5 m^3 in total,which is a world record with the longest continuous duration of gas production and maximal gas yield.This successful test brings a significant breakthrough on safety control of NGH production.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41606078)National Key Research and Development Plan (2017YFC0307600)+1 种基金Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (QNLM2016ORP0207,QNLM2016ORP0203)Marine Geological Survey Program (DD20190231,DD20190221).
摘要Sand production is a crucial problem during the process of extracting natural gas from hydrate reservoirs. To deal with sand-production problems systematically, a sand-production control system (SCS) is first proposed in this paper, specialized for pore-distributed clayey silt hydrate reservoirs. Secondly, a nodal system analysis method (NSAM) is applied to analyze the sand migration process during hydrate exploitation. The SCS is divided into three sub-systems, according to different sand migration mechanisms, and three key scientific problems and advances in SCS research in China Geological Survey are reviewed and analyzed. The maximum formation sanding rate, proper sand-control gravel size, and borehole blockage risk position were provided for clayey hydrate exploitation wells based on the SCS analysis. The SCS sub-systems are closely connected via bilateral coupling, and coordination of the subsystems is the basis of maintaining formation stability and prolonging the gas production cycle. Therefore, contradictory mitigation measures between sand production and operational systems should be considered preferentially. Some novel and efficient hydrate exploitation methods are needed to completely solve the contradictions caused by sand production.
基金This research was supported by Project of Distinguished Experts of Taishan Scholars (ts201712079)Youth Foundation of National Natural Science Foundation of China (41606078)+1 种基金Open Foundation of Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (QNLM2016ORP0207)Marine Geological Survey Program (DD20190231). Anonymous reviewers and Dr. Hao Zi-guo and Dr. Yang Yan were grateful for their constructive suggestions on the manuscript.
摘要Raising the in situ decomposition rate of natural gas hydrate and increasing the decomposition contact area are two main ways to raise the productivity of hydrate. An exploitation technique based on large borehole with multi-lateral branches (LB & MB) was proposed in this paper. This technique is mainly intended for the clayey silt hydrate reservoir in the South China Sea, and its main purpose is to alleviate the sand output from formation for maintaining the stability of the reservoir and to greatly increase the gas productivity of the reservoir. In this paper, the following aspects were mainly expounded: definition of the basic geometric parameters for layout of multi-lateral branches in clayey silt hydrate reservoir, simulation of the stimulation effect of a typical well profile with two branches, and prediction and simulation of the reservoir failure risk in a well profile with eight branches. The results show that the LB & MB effectively improves the flow field in the formation, raises the productivity of the reservoir and may also help to decrease the produced water-gas ratio (WGR). When the lateral branches spacing is too small, the failure zones around adjacent lateral branches overlap each other, possibly causing reservoir failure in a larger range. Therefore, the geometric parameters of multi-lateral branches depend on the dual control of the productivity and geotechnical risk factor of reservoir. Further study is being carried out, so as to obtain the optimal combination of parameters of multi-lateral branches.
基金supported by the Laoshan Laboratory(No.LSKJ LSKJ202203506)the Taishan Scholars Program,and the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.41976074).
摘要Sand production is one of the main obstacles restricting gas extraction efficiency and safety from marine natural gas hydrate(NGH)reservoirs.Particle migration within the NGH reservoir dominates sand production behaviors,while their relationships were rarely reported,severely constrains quantitative evaluation of sand production risks.This paper reports the optical observations of solid particle migration and production from micrometer to mesoscopic scales conditioned to gravel packing during depressurization-induced NGH dissociation for the first time.Theoretical evolutionary modes of sand migration are established based on experimental observations,and its implications on field NGH are comprehensively discussed.Five particle migration regimes of local borehole failure,continuous collapse,wormhole expansion,extensive slow deformation,and pore-wall fluidization are proved to occur during depressurization.The types of particle migration regimes and their transmission modes during depressurization are predominantly determined by initial hydrate saturation.In contrast,the depressurization mainly dominates the transmission rate of the particle migration regimes.Furthermore,both the cumulative mass and the medium grain size of the produced sand decrease linearly with increasing initial methane hydrate(MH)saturation.Discontinuous gas bubble emission,expansion,and explosion during MH dissociation delay sand migration into the wellbore.At the same time,continuous water flow is a requirement for sand production during hydrate dissociation by depressurization.The experiments enlighten us that a constitutive model that can illustrate visible particle migration regimes and their transmission modes is urgently needed to bridge numerical simulation and field applications.Optimizing wellbore layout positions or special reservoir treatment shall be important for mitigating sand production tendency during NGH exploitation.
摘要This paper provides an overview of the developments in analytical and testing methods and experimental simulations on gas hydrate in China.In the laboratory,the analyses and experiments of gas hydrate can provide useful parameters for hydrate exploration and exploitation.In recent years,modem analytical instruments and techniques,including Laser Raman spectroscopy (Raman),X-ray diffraction (XRD),X-ray computed tomography (X-CT),scanning electron microscope (SEM),nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high pressure differential scanning calorimetry (DSC),were applied in the study of structure,formation mechanisms,phase equilibrium,thermal physical properties and so forth of gas hydrates.The detection technology and time-domain reflectometry (TDR)technique are integrated to the experimental devices to study the physical parameters of gas hydrates,such as the acoustics,resistivity,thermal,and mechanical properties.It is believed that the various analytical techniques together with the experimental simulations from large-scale to micro-scale on gas hydrate will play a significant role and provide a powerful support for future gas hydrate researches.
基金the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41876051 and 41872136)the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2021M701815)the Postdoctoral Innovative Talents Support Program in Shandong Province(SDBX2021015).
摘要Understanding the pore water conversion characteristics during hydrate formation in porous media is important to study the accumulation mechanism of marine gas hydrate.In this study,low-field NMR was used to study the pore water conversion characteristics during methane hydrate formation in unsaturated sand samples.Results show that the signal intensity of T2 distribution isn’t affected by sediment type and pore pressure,but is affected by temperature.The increase in the pressure of hydrogen-containing gas can cause the increase in the signal intensity of T2 distribution.The heterogeneity of pore structure is aggravated due to the hydrate formation in porous media.The water conversion rate fluctuates during the hydrate formation.The sand size affects the water conversion ratio and rate by affecting the specific surface of sand in unsaturated porous media.For the fine sand sample,the large specific surface causes a large gas-water contact area resulting in a higher water conversion rate,but causes a large water-sand contact area resulting in a low water conversion ratio(Cw=96.2%).The clay can reduce the water conversion rate and ratio,especially montmorillonite(Cw=95.8%).The crystal layer of montmorillonite affects the pore water conversion characteristics by hindering the conversion of interlayer water.
基金supported by the projects of the China Geological Survey(DD20190102,DD20221857).
摘要Global warming and the response to it have become a topic of concern in today’s society and are also a research focus in the global scientific community.As the world’s third pole,the global warming amplifier,and the starting region of China’s climate change,the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is extremely sensitive to climate change.The permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is rich in natural gas hydrates(NGHs)resources.Under the background of global warming,whether the NGHs will be disassociated and enter the atmosphere as the air temperature rises has become a major concern of both the public and the scientific community.Given this,this study reviewed the trend of global warming and accordingly summarized the characteristics of the temperature increase in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.Based on this as well as the distribution characteristics of the NGHs in the permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,this study investigated the changes in the response of the NGHs to global warming,aiming to clarify the impacts of global warming on the NGHs in the permafrost of the plateau.A noticeable response to global warming has been observed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.Over the past decades,the increase in the mean annual air temperature of the plateau was increasingly high and more recently.Specifically,the mean annual air temperature of the plateau changed at a rate of approximately 0.308-0.420℃/10a and increased by approximately 1.54-2.10℃in the past decades.Moreover,the annual mean ground temperature of the shallow permafrost on the plateau increased by approximately 1.155-1.575℃and the permafrost area decreased by approximately 0.34×106km2from about 1.4×106km2to 1.06×106km2in the past decades.As indicated by simulated calculation results,the thickness of the NGH-bearing permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has decreased by 29-39 m in the past 50 years,with the equivalent of(1.69-2.27)×1010-(1.12-1.51)×1012m3of methane(CH4)being released due to NGHs dissociation.It is predicted that the thickness of the NGH-bearing permafrost will decrease by 23 m and 27 m,and dissociated and released NGHs will be the equivalent of(1.34-88.8)×1010m3and(1.57-104)×1010m3of CH4,respectively by 2030 and 2050.Considering the positive feedback mechanism of NGHs on global warming and the fact that CH4has a higher greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide,the NGHs in the permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau will emit more CH4into the atmosphere,which is an important trend of NGHs under the background of global warming.Therefore,the NGHs are destructive as a time bomb and may lead to a waste of efforts that mankind has made in carbon emission reduction and carbon neutrality.Accordingly,this study suggests that human beings should make more efforts to conduct the exploration and exploitation of the NGHs in the permafrost of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,accelerate research on the techniques and equipment for NGHs extraction,storage,and transportation,and exploit the permafrost-associated NGHs while thawing them.The purpose is to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere and mitigate the atmospheric greenhouse effect,thus contributing to the global goal of peak carbon dioxide emissions and carbon neutrality.
基金jointly supported by Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao)the IGGCAS (IGGCAS-201903 and SZJJ201901)the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ZDBSLY-DQC003)。
摘要How natural gas hydrates nucleate and grow is a crucial scientific question.The research on it will help solve practical problems encountered in hydrate accumulation,development,and utilization of hydrate related technology.Due to its limitations on both spatial and temporal dimensions,experiment cannot fully explain this issue on a micro-scale.With the development of computer technology,molecular simulation has been widely used in the study of hydrate formation because it can observe the nucleation and growth process of hydrates at the molecular level.This review will assess the recent progresses in molecular dynamics simulation of hydrate nucleation and growth,as well as the enlightening significance of these developments in hydrate applications.At the same time,combined with the problems encountered in recent hydrate trial mining and applications,some potential directions for molecular simulation in the research of hydrate nucleation and growth are proposed,and the future of molecular simulation research on hydrate nucleation and growth is prospected.
基金funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2017YFC0307600)the China Geological Survey Program(DD20190231).
摘要Gas hydrate is one kind of potential energy resources that is buried under deep seafloor or frozen areas.The first trial offshore production from the silty reservoir was conducted in the South China Sea by the China Geological Survey(CGS).During this test,there were many unique characteristics different from the sand reservoir,which was believed to be related to the clayed silt physical properties.In this paper,simulation experiments,facilities analysis,and theoretical calculation were used to confirm the hydrate structure,reservoir thermo-physical property,and bond water movement rule.And the behavior of how they affected production efficiency was analyzed.The results showed that:It was reasonable to use the structure I rather than structure II methane hydrate phase equilibrium data to make the production plan;the dissociation heat absorbed by hydrate was large enough to cause hydrate self-protection or reformation depend on the reservoir thermal transfer and gas supply;clayed silt got better thermal conductivity compared to coarse grain,but poor thermal convection especially with hydrate;clayed silt sediment was easy to bond water,but the irreducible water can be exchanged to free water under high production pressure,and the most obvious pressure range of water increment was 1.9–4.9 MPa.
基金jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42106052)Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (ZR2020QD070)the project of China Geological Survey (DD20190221)。
摘要Large amounts of gas hydrate are distributed in the northern slope of the South China Sea,which is a potential threat of methane leakage.Aerobic methane oxidation by methanotrophs,significant methane biotransformation that occurs in sediment surface and water column,can effectively reduce atmospheric emission of hydrate-decomposed methane.To identify active aerobic methanotrophs and their methane oxidation potential in sediments from the Shenhu Area in the South China Sea,multi-day enrichment incubations were conducted in this study.The results show that the methane oxidation rates in the studied sediments were 2.03‒2.36μmol/gdw/d,which were higher than those obtained by sediment incubations from other areas in marine ecosystems.Thus the authors suspect that the methane oxidation potential of methanotrophs was relatively higher in sediments from the Shenhu Area.After the incubations family Methylococcaea(type I methanotrophs)mainly consisted of genus Methylobacter and Methylococcaea_Other were predominant with an increased proportion of 70.3%,whereas Methylocaldum decreased simultaneously in the incubated sediments.Collectively,this study may help to gain a better understanding of the methane biotransformation in the Shenhu Area.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(42076217,41976205)Shandong Provincial Taishan Scholars Special Expert Project (ts201712079)+1 种基金Marine Geological Survey Program (DD20190231)Shandong Natural Science Foundation(ZR2017BD024)。
摘要Blockage in water-dominated flow pipelines due to hydrate reformation has been suggested as a potential safety issue during the hydrate production.In this work,flow velocity-dependent hydrate formation features are investigated in a fluid circulation system with a total length of 39 m.A 9-m section pipe is transparent consisted of two complete rectangular loops.By means of pressurization with gas-saturated water,the system can gradually reach the equilibrium conditions.The result shows that the hydrates are delayed to appear as floccules or thin films covering the methane bubbles.When the circulation velocity is below 750 rpm,hydrate is finally deposited as a“hydrate bed”at upmost of inner wall,narrowing the flow channel of the pipeline.Nevertheless,no plugging is observed during all the experimental runs.The five stages of hydrate deposition are proposed based on the experimental results.It is also revealed that a higher driving pressure is needed at a lower flow rate.The driving force of hydrate formation from gas and water obtained by melting hydrate is higher than that from fresh water with no previous hydrate history.The authors hope that this work will be beneficial for the flow assurance of the following oceanic field hydrate recovery trials.
摘要The Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate,Ministry of Natural Resources,established in 2012 belongs to Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology,China Geological Survey.Prof.Neng-you Wu is the Director of Laboratory and Prof.Yu-guang Ye is the Director of Academic Committee(Fig.1).Now,the laboratory has been recognized as one of the leading laboratories in the world in terms of gas hydrate experimental technology.