Numerical Investigation of the Production Behavior of Methane Hydrates under Depressurization Conditions Combined with Well-Wall Heating

Xuke Ruan, Xiao-Sen Li and Chun-Gang Xu
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Xuke Ruan: Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Xiao-Sen Li: Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Chun-Gang Xu: Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 2, 1-17

Abstract: In this study, a 2D hydrate dissociation simulator has been improved and veri?ed to be valid in numerical simulations of the gas production behavior using depressurization combined with a well-wall heating method. A series of numerical simulations were performed and the results showed that well-wall heating had an in?uence enhancing the depressurization-induced gas production, but the in?uence was limited, and it was even gradually weakened with the increase of well-wall heating temperature. Meanwhile, the results of the sensitivity analysis demonstrated the gas production depended on the initial hydrate saturation, initial pressure and the thermal boundary conditions. The supply of heat for hydrate dissociation mainly originates from the thermal boundaries,whichcontrolthehydratedissociationandgasproductionbydepressurizationcombined with well-wall heating. However, the effect of initial temperature on the gas production could be nearly negligible under depressurization conditions combined with well-wall heating.

Keywords: methane hydrate; gas production; depressurization; well-wall heating; numerical simulation (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: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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