Modelling Methane Hydrate Saturation in Pores: Capillary Inhibition Effects

Maria De La Fuente, Jean Vaunat and Héctor Marín-Moreno
Additional contact information
Maria De La Fuente: BGeoSys, Department Geoscience, Environment & Society (DGES), Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Jean Vaunat: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Héctor Marín-Moreno: Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, PB 3930 Ullevål Stadion, N-0806 Oslo, Norway

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 18, 1-18

Abstract: Experimental and field observations evidence the effects of capillarity in narrow pores on inhibiting the thermodynamic stability of gas hydrates and controlling their saturation. Thus, precise estimates of the gas hydrate global inventory require models that accurately describe gas hydrate stability in sediments. Here, an equilibrium model for hydrate formation in sediments that accounts for capillary inhibition effects is developed and validated against experimental data. Analogous to water freezing in pores, the model assumes that hydrate formation is controlled by the sediment pore size distribution and the balance of capillary forces at the hydrate–liquid interface. To build the formulation, we first derive the Clausius–Clapeyron equation for the thermodynamic equilibrium of methane and water chemical potentials. Then, this equation is combined with the van Genuchten’s capillary pressure to relate the thermodynamic properties of the system to the sediment pore size distribution and hydrate saturation. The model examines the influence of the sediment pore size distribution on hydrate saturation through the simulation of hydrate formation in sand, silt, and clays, under equilibrium conditions and without mass transfer limitations. The results show that at pressure–temperature conditions typically found in the seabed, capillary effects in very fine-grained clays can limit the maximum hydrate saturation below 20% of the host sediment porosity.

Keywords: capillary effects; methane hydrate stability; formation inhibition; hydrate pore saturation; numerical modelling; thermodynamics (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)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/18/5627/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/18/5627/ (text/html)

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:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:18:p:5627-:d:630891

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().