Experimental Study of the PVTX Properties of the System H2O-CH4 Fang Lin

• Main Authors: J. Fred Read, Madeline Schreiber, Amadeu Sum
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: H2O-CH4 system; synthetic fluid inclusions; PVTX properties; Raman spectroscopy; phase equilibria; methane hydrate; Fang; Methane hydrate
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.518.2300; http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-10062005-222419/unrestricted/FLin_Dissertation.pdf

The system H2O-CH4 is found in a variety of geological environments in the earth’s crust, from sedimentary basins to low grade metamorphic terrains. Knowledge of the Pressure-Volume-Temperature-Composition (PVTX) properties of the H2O-CH4 system is necessary to understand the role that these fluids play in different geological environments. In this study the properties of the H2O-CH4 fluid system at elevated temperatures and pressures has been investigated experimentally to determine the PVTX properties of H2O-CH4 fluids in the P-T range equivalent to late diagenetic to low grade metamorphic environments, and XCH4≤4mol%. A study has also been conducted to determine methane hydrate stability over the temperature range of-40~20°C. Synthetic fluid inclusions were employed in both studies as miniature autoclaves. Experimental data for the PVTX properties of H2O-CH4 fluids under late diagenetic to low grade metamorphic conditions was used to calculate the slopes of iso-Th lines (the line connecting the P-T conditions of the inclusions at formation and at homogenization) at different PTX conditions. An empirical equation to describe the slope