This project will explore the relative permeability of coarse‐grained reservoirs and the response of these reservoirs to depressurization at the macro‐ (1 m) and micro‐ (1x10‐6 m) scale. At the macro‐scale (e.g., 0.1 m to 1 m sand‐pack cores, eventually moving to natural Gulf of Mexico (GoM) cores), researchers will determine relative permeability and perform production tests (pressure dissipation). Simultaneously, they will perform micro computed tomography (micro‐CT) and micro‐Raman analysis to understand the habit and phase distribution at the micro- (pore) scale and will examine the evolution of these properties during dissipation. The project will develop constitutive relationships to describe these processes and inform reservoir simulation efforts.
University of Texas at Austin, Austin (UTA), TX 78712
Depressurization of coarse‐grained, gas‐bearing reservoirs involves multiple processes that interact at multiple length and time scales. These include, but are not limited to, relative permeability, capillary, compaction, kinetic, and thermodynamic behaviors. Two properties that are poorly understood are 1) the relative permeability behavior of these systems as the hydrate and gas saturation change, and 2) the effect of local changes in pore water chemistry as hydrate dissociation occurs. These are macro-scale behaviors that can be measured at the core scale, and they have a large impact on the production rate of methane from hydrate reservoirs. Accurate predictions of gas production from hydrates await a better understanding of these behaviors. This understanding will result from both a macro‐scale description of the behavior and a micro‐scale analysis of the underlying processes driving these macro‐scale behaviors.
This project will explore the relative permeability of coarse‐grained reservoirs and the response of these reservoirs to depressurization at the macro‐ (1 m) and micro‐ (1x10‐6 m) scale. At the macro‐scale (e.g., 0.1 m to 1 m sand‐pack cores, eventually moving to natural Gulf of Mexico (GoM) cores), researchers will determine relative permeability and perform production tests (pressure dissipation). Simultaneously, they will perform micro-computed tomography (micro‐CT) and micro‐Raman analysis to understand the habit and phase distribution at the micro- (pore) scale and will examine the evolution of these properties during dissipation. The project will develop constitutive relationships to describe these processes and inform reservoir simulation efforts.
Methane hydrates within sand‐rich marine reservoirs represent a potentially enormous reservoir for methane. Previous drilling/logging in marine sand reservoirs within the GoM has verified that methane hydrate filled sand reservoirs are present and that sand reservoirs can be identified from seismic analysis. DOE is now focusing on acquiring intact samples through its project “Genesis of Methane Hydrate in Coarse‐Grained Systems: Northern Gulf of Mexico Slope,” DOE Award No.: DEFE0023919. It is anticipated that the first conventional and pressurized cores of these reservoirs will be collected under that project in spring 2017.
Laboratory studies to determine the effect of solid phases (hydrate) on relative permeability are of the highest importance because this behavior has a large impact on gas recovery in hydrate bearing systems. Current modeling approaches are limited to relying on theoretical extensions of conventional multi‐phase flow models. It is vital now to go beyond these limitations and pursue an experimental program that will illuminate, at the core and the pore scale, the effect of methane hydrate on gas flow behavior and the process of hydrate dissociation due to perturbation. A successful testing program leading to analysis of intact cores (as is planned under this project) provides a pathway to this understanding. The learnings that result will provide a significant step forward in our ability to simulate hydrate production and make realistic estimates of the ability of the methane hydrate resource to be a viable energy source.
Research activities under the project have been completed and results of the work are reported within the project’s final scientific/technical report which is available from the link in the additional information section below. Key accomplishments and findings are summarized in the accomplishments section above.
$1,199,991
$300,000
NETL – Richard Baker (richard.baker@netl.doe.gov)
UTA – Dr. Peter Flemings (pflemings@jsg.utexas.edu)
Final Scientific/Technical Report [PDF] December 2019
OSTI Identifier: 1579563