Submarine deformation monitoring during the second gas hydrate production test in the South China Sea

Qianyong Liang, Xuemin Wu, Zhichao Yu, Yifei Dong, Chuan He, Lin Yang, Tao He, Binbin Guo, Qingmeng Yuan, Zhigang Wang, Danyi Su, Xi Xiao, Xiaoyu Wu, Andi Xu and Yang Wu

Energy, 2025, vol. 335, issue C

Abstract: Natural gas hydrates, recognized as a promising 21st-century energy source, offer significant potential for low-carbon energy. However, the exploitation of marine natural gas hydrate may pose risks to sediment stability and may induce submarine deformation, necessitating environmental impact assessments. Current methods for monitoring submarine hazards are inadequate for long-term, in-situ assessments of strata stability. This study introduces an integrated submarine deformation monitoring instrument deployed during the second offshore natural gas hydrate production test in the South China Sea. The instrument captured variations in seabed static water pressure, azimuth, and tilt angles over a 183-day production period. By applying empirical mode decomposition and deformation field theory, the study reveals that only two monitoring stations recorded vertical settlements exceeding 1 cm, with a maximum of 1.98 cm, while others remained below 10 mm. This suggests the absence of severe geological disasters such as strata deformation or seabed collapse during the production test. The finding demonstrates the efficacy of the submarine deformation monitoring system combined with multivariate signal analysis for long-term, in-situ strata stability monitoring, which is essential for environmental impact monitoring and safety assessment of gas hydrate production.

Keywords: Natural gas hydrate; Submarine deformation monitoring; Production test; Tilt field; Multivariate empirical mode decomposition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225037910
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:335:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225037910

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.138149

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().