A Counter-Current Heat-Exchange Reactor for the Thermal Stimulation of Gas Hydrate and Petroleum Reservoirs

At the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences we have developed a safe and efficient method which allows for the decomposition of gas hydrates by the supply of heat inside the reservoir. The heat is generated in situ by a catalytic combustion of methane in a counter-current heat-exchange reactor. The reactor that Rudy Rogers, Professor Emeritus in Chemical Engineering at Mississippi State University, referred to as the "Schicks Combustor" is placed in a borehole in such way that the hot reaction zone is situated in the area of the hydrate layer. The counter-current heat-exchange reactor developed at GFZ generates heat via a flameless catalytic oxidation of methane at a noble metal catalyst. The system is closed i.e. there is no contact of the reactants, catalyst and environment. For safety reasons, methane and air are fed separately through a tube-in-tube arrangement into the mixing chamber. Due to its cooling effect and for safety reasons air instead of pure oxygen is used. From the mixing chamber the gas mixture arrives in defined quantities on the catalyst bed, where methane and oxygen are converted into carbon dioxide and water. The hot product gases release their heat via an aluminum foam to the outer wall of the reactor and then to the environment. Simultaneously, the incoming gases are preheated. The reaction runs stable and autonomous between 673 and 823 K. The counter-current heat-exchange reactor was designed as a lab reactor and a borehole tool. The lab reactor was tested in a reservoir simulator to investigate the heat transfer into gas hydrate bearing sediments. Therefore methane hydrate was generated in the LArge Reservoir Simulator (LARS), an autoclave with a volume of 425 L. In a test with 80% hydrate saturation, the reservoir simulator warmed up within 12 hours after the ignition of the catalyst to such an extent that the temperature of the complete sample was above the dissociation temperature of the previously formed methane hydrate which dissociated completely and methane could therefore be produced. During this test, only 15% of the produced CH4 was consumed to generate the energy needed for the thermal dissociation of the hydrates. The experience with the laboratory reactor served as basis for the design of a borehole tool which is suitable for the application in natural gas hydrate reservoirs. The borehole tool has a total length of 5120 mm, an outer diameter of 90 mm and weighs ca. 100 kg. First results from field tests at the continental deep drilling site KTB in Windischeschenbach, Germany, confirm that the borehole tool reliably produces heat at depth.