Advanced Simulation and Experiments of Strongly Coupled Geomechanics and Flow for Gas Hydrate Deposits: Validation and Field Application. Final Report
- Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)
The objectives of the proposed research are (1) to investigate geomechanical responses induced by depressurization experimentally and numerically; (2) to enhance the current numerical simulation technology in order to simulate complex physically coupled processes by depressurization and (3) to perform in-depth numerical analyses of two selected potential production test sites: one based on the deposits observed at the Ulleung basin UBGH2-6 site; and the other based on well-characterized accumulations from the westend Prudhoe Bay. To these ends, the recipient will have the following specific objectives: 1). Information obtained from multi-scale experiments previously conducted at the recipient’s research partner (the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM)) that were designed to represent the most promising known Ulleung Basin gas hydrate deposit as drilled at site UBGH2-6 will be evaluated (Task 2). These findings will be further tested by new experimental studies at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and Texas A&M (TAMU) (Task 3) that are designed capture complex coupled physical processes between flow and geomechanics, such as sand production, capillarity, and formation of secondary hydrates. The findings of Tasks 2 and 3 will be used to further improve numerical codes. 2) Develop (in Tasks 4 through 6) an advanced coupled geomechanics and non-isothermal flow simulator (T+MAM) to account for large deformation and strong capillarity. This new code will be validated using data from the literature, from previous work by the project team, and with the results of the proposed experimental studies. The developed simulator will be applied to both Ulleung Basin and Prudhoe Bay sites, effectively addressing complex geomechanical and petrophysical changes induced by depressurization (e.g., frost-heave, strong capillarity, cryo-suction, induced fracturing, and dynamic permeability).
- Research Organization:
- Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station; National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV, and Albany, OR (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FE0028973
- OSTI ID:
- 1616018
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-TAMU-FE0028973-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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