Experimental Study on Mechanical Properties of Hydrate-Bearing Sand: The Influence of Sand-Water Mixing Methods

Weiguo Liu, Dedong Pan, Shi Shen, Zeshao You, Yuechao Zhao and Xiang Sun
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Weiguo Liu: Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Dedong Pan: Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Shi Shen: Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Zeshao You: Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Yuechao Zhao: Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Xiang Sun: Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: Laboratory-synthesized specimens are employed for an experimental study on the mechanical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments (HBS) due to the difficulty of field coring. A representative synthesized sample for the analysis of the mechanical properties of HBS in the experimental study requires evenly distributed hydrates in the pores of the sample. However, a specimen made with an improper sand–water mixing method might have an uneven water distribution, resulting in an uneven hydrate distribution when applying the ice-seeding method for hydrate formation. This study adopted three kinds of methods to mix sand and water before forming hydrates and applied the low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique to investigate how these methods affect the hydrate distribution, further affecting the mechanical properties. To analyze the mechanical properties of HBS, we conducted drained triaxial tests. As shown in low-field NMR, when we compacted a sample of the sand–water mixture and froze it upside-down before hydrate formation, a sample with an even water distribution was obtained. Subsequently, the hydrate in HBS distributed also evenly. The stress-strain curves present different strain softening and hardening patterns due to the different hydrate distributions. Moreover, the samples with the evenly distributed hydrates have higher initial elastic modulus and strength than the ones made with other methods.

Keywords: triaxial test; hydrate-bearing sample; sand–water mixture methods; NMR; hydrate distribution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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