{"title":"A hydrate reservoir renovation device and its application in nitrogen bubble fracturing","authors":"Jingsheng Lu, Yuanxin Yao, Dongliang Li, Jinhai Yang, Deqing Liang, Yiqun Zhang, Decai Lin, Kunlin Ma","doi":"10.5194/gi-13-75-2024","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Natural gas hydrate (GH) is a significant potential energy source due to its large reserves, wide distribution, high energy density, and low pollution. However, the gas production rate of past gas hydrate production tests is much lower than the requirement of commercial gas production. Reservoir stimulation technologies like hydraulic fractures provide one potential approach to enhance gas production from GH. The reservoir reformation behavior of the hydrate-bearing sediments (HBSs), particularly sediments with a high clay content, is a complex process during a hydraulic fracturing operation which has been poorly understood and thus hardly predictable. This paper presents an experimental facility that was developed to analyze the hydraulic fracture mechanism in synthesized HBSs. This facility can be used to form GH in sediments, conduct visual observation of hydraulic fracturing experiments, and measure the permeability of HBSs under high-pressure (up to 30 MPa) and low-temperature conditions (from 253.15 to 323.15 K). It is mainly composed of a pressure control and injection unit, a low temperature and cooling unit, a cavitation unit, a visual sapphire reactor, and a data acquisition and measurement unit. The hydraulic fracture module consists of a gas cylinder, fracturing pump, hopper, proppant warehouse, and valves. The sapphire reservoir chamber is applied to observe and measure the fracture of HBSs during hydraulic fracturing. The permeability test module is composed of a constant-flux pump and pressure sensors, which can evaluate the permeability performance before and after the hydraulic fracture in HBSs. The fundamental principles of this apparatus are discussed. Some tests were performed to verify hydraulic fracture tests, and permeability tests could be practically applied in the HBS exploitation.","PeriodicalId":48742,"journal":{"name":"Geoscientific Instrumentation Methods and Data Systems","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Geoscientific Instrumentation Methods and Data Systems","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-13-75-2024","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract. Natural gas hydrate (GH) is a significant potential energy source due to its large reserves, wide distribution, high energy density, and low pollution. However, the gas production rate of past gas hydrate production tests is much lower than the requirement of commercial gas production. Reservoir stimulation technologies like hydraulic fractures provide one potential approach to enhance gas production from GH. The reservoir reformation behavior of the hydrate-bearing sediments (HBSs), particularly sediments with a high clay content, is a complex process during a hydraulic fracturing operation which has been poorly understood and thus hardly predictable. This paper presents an experimental facility that was developed to analyze the hydraulic fracture mechanism in synthesized HBSs. This facility can be used to form GH in sediments, conduct visual observation of hydraulic fracturing experiments, and measure the permeability of HBSs under high-pressure (up to 30 MPa) and low-temperature conditions (from 253.15 to 323.15 K). It is mainly composed of a pressure control and injection unit, a low temperature and cooling unit, a cavitation unit, a visual sapphire reactor, and a data acquisition and measurement unit. The hydraulic fracture module consists of a gas cylinder, fracturing pump, hopper, proppant warehouse, and valves. The sapphire reservoir chamber is applied to observe and measure the fracture of HBSs during hydraulic fracturing. The permeability test module is composed of a constant-flux pump and pressure sensors, which can evaluate the permeability performance before and after the hydraulic fracture in HBSs. The fundamental principles of this apparatus are discussed. Some tests were performed to verify hydraulic fracture tests, and permeability tests could be practically applied in the HBS exploitation.
期刊介绍:
Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems (GI) is an open-access interdisciplinary electronic journal for swift publication of original articles and short communications in the area of geoscientific instruments. It covers three main areas: (i) atmospheric and geospace sciences, (ii) earth science, and (iii) ocean science. A unique feature of the journal is the emphasis on synergy between science and technology that facilitates advances in GI. These advances include but are not limited to the following:
concepts, design, and description of instrumentation and data systems;
retrieval techniques of scientific products from measurements;
calibration and data quality assessment;
uncertainty in measurements;
newly developed and planned research platforms and community instrumentation capabilities;
major national and international field campaigns and observational research programs;
new observational strategies to address societal needs in areas such as monitoring climate change and preventing natural disasters;
networking of instruments for enhancing high temporal and spatial resolution of observations.
GI has an innovative two-stage publication process involving the scientific discussion forum Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems Discussions (GID), which has been designed to do the following:
foster scientific discussion;
maximize the effectiveness and transparency of scientific quality assurance;
enable rapid publication;
make scientific publications freely accessible.