Quantifying hydrate solidification front advancing using method of characteristics

You, Kehua; DiCarlo, David; Flemings, Peter B.

doi:10.1002/2015JB011985

Title: Quantifying hydrate solidification front advancing using method of characteristics

Journal Article · 06 September 2015 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JB011985 · OSTI ID:1468398

You, Kehua ^[1]; DiCarlo, David ^[2]; Flemings, Peter B. ^[2]

Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (United States); Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (United States)

Here, we develop a one-dimensional analytical solution based on the method of characteristics to explore hydrate formation from gas injection into brine-saturated sediments within the hydrate stability zone. Our solution includes fully coupled multiphase and multicomponent flow and the associated advective transport in a homogeneous system. Our solution shows that hydrate saturation is controlled by the initial thermodynamic state of the system and changed by the gas fractional flow. Hydrate saturation in gas-rich systems can be estimated by 1 – cl₀/cl_e when Darcy flow dominates, where cl₀ is the initial mass fraction of salt in brine, and cl_e is the mass fraction of salt in brine at three-phase (gas, liquid, and hydrate) equilibrium. Hydrate saturation is constant, gas saturation and gas flux decrease, and liquid saturation and liquid flux increase with the distance from the gas inlet to the hydrate solidification front. The total gas and liquid flux is constant from the gas inlet to the hydrate solidification front and decreases abruptly at the hydrate solidification front due to gas inclusion into the hydrate phase. The advancing velocity of the hydrate solidification front decreases with hydrate saturation at a fixed gas inflow rate. This analytical solution illuminates how hydrate is formed by gas injection (methane, CO₂, ethane, propane) at both the laboratory and field scales.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: FE0010406

OSTI ID:: 1468398

Journal Information:: Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 120; ISSN 2169-9313

Publisher:: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited By (3)

Mechanisms of Methane Hydrate Formation in Geological Systems You, K.; Flemings, P. B.; Malinverno, A. Reviews of Geophysics, Vol. 57, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018rg000638	journal	October 2019
Nitrogen‐Driven Chromatographic Separation During Gas Injection Into Hydrate‐Bearing Sediments Darnell, K. N.; Flemings, P. B.; DiCarlo, D. Water Resources Research, Vol. 55, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018wr023414	journal	August 2019
A 3‐D Model of Gas Generation, Migration, and Gas Hydrate Formation at a Young Convergent Margin (Hikurangi Margin, New Zealand) Kroeger, K. F.; Crutchley, G. J.; Kellett, R. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Vol. 20, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019gc008275	journal	November 2019

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58 GEOSCIENCES
fractional flow
hydrate saturation
hydrate solidification front
method of characteristics
phase diagram

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