Testing the Sediment Organic Contents Required for Biogenic Gas Hydrate Formation: Insights from Synthetic 3-D Basin and Hydrocarbon System Modelling
Gas hydrates comprise one of the largest reservoirs of organic carbon on Earth. Marine gas hydrate predominantly consists of biogenic (i.e., microbially generated) methane molecules trapped within lattice-like cages of frozen water molecules. Sedimentary organic matter is the feedstock for methanoge...
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Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/fuels3030033 |
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2673-3994/3/3/33/ 2023-08-20T04:07:58+02:00 Testing the Sediment Organic Contents Required for Biogenic Gas Hydrate Formation: Insights from Synthetic 3-D Basin and Hydrocarbon System Modelling Zachary F. M. Burton Laura N. Dafov agris 2022-09-09 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/fuels3030033 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fuels3030033 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Fuels; Volume 3; Issue 3; Pages: 555-562 methane hydrate biogenic gas hydrate basin modelling organic carbon petroleum systems modelling organic geochemistry marine sediment carbon hydrogen Text 2022 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/fuels3030033 2023-08-01T06:24:46Z Gas hydrates comprise one of the largest reservoirs of organic carbon on Earth. Marine gas hydrate predominantly consists of biogenic (i.e., microbially generated) methane molecules trapped within lattice-like cages of frozen water molecules. Sedimentary organic matter is the feedstock for methanogens producing gas in anaerobic sub-seafloor environments. Therefore, an understanding of the minimum amount of organic material (measured as carbon and hydrogen content) necessary for methanogenesis to result in appreciable volumes of hydrocarbons is central to understanding the requirements for gas hydrate formation. Reactive transport modelling by workers over the past 20 years suggests minimum requirements of ~0.3–0.5. wt. % TOC (total organic carbon) for gas hydrate formation, while earlier workers predicted TOC as low as ~0.1–0.2. wt. % could produce biogenic gas. However, the hydrogen content (recognized as the limiting reagent in hydrocarbon generation for over 50 years) needed for biogenic gas generation and gas hydrate formation is poorly understood. Furthermore, the minimum organic contents needed for gas hydrate formation have not been investigated via basin-scale computational modeling. Here, we construct a synthetic 3-D basin and gas hydrate system model to investigate minimum sediment TOC and hydrogen (HI, hydrogen index) contents needed for gas hydrate formation. Our modelling suggests that, under geologically favorable conditions, TOC as low as 0.1. wt. % (paired with 100 HI) and HI as low as 50 (paired with 0.2. wt. % TOC) may produce biogenic gas hydrate saturations above 1%. Our modelling demonstrates the importance of basin-scale investigation of hydrocarbon systems and demonstrates how the confluence of favorable structural controls (e.g., faults, folds, anticlines) and stratigraphic controls (e.g., carrier beds, reservoirs) can result in gas hydrate accumulations, even in organic-poor settings. Text Methane hydrate MDPI Open Access Publishing Fuels 3 3 555 562 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
methane hydrate biogenic gas hydrate basin modelling organic carbon petroleum systems modelling organic geochemistry marine sediment carbon hydrogen |
spellingShingle |
methane hydrate biogenic gas hydrate basin modelling organic carbon petroleum systems modelling organic geochemistry marine sediment carbon hydrogen Zachary F. M. Burton Laura N. Dafov Testing the Sediment Organic Contents Required for Biogenic Gas Hydrate Formation: Insights from Synthetic 3-D Basin and Hydrocarbon System Modelling |
topic_facet |
methane hydrate biogenic gas hydrate basin modelling organic carbon petroleum systems modelling organic geochemistry marine sediment carbon hydrogen |
description |
Gas hydrates comprise one of the largest reservoirs of organic carbon on Earth. Marine gas hydrate predominantly consists of biogenic (i.e., microbially generated) methane molecules trapped within lattice-like cages of frozen water molecules. Sedimentary organic matter is the feedstock for methanogens producing gas in anaerobic sub-seafloor environments. Therefore, an understanding of the minimum amount of organic material (measured as carbon and hydrogen content) necessary for methanogenesis to result in appreciable volumes of hydrocarbons is central to understanding the requirements for gas hydrate formation. Reactive transport modelling by workers over the past 20 years suggests minimum requirements of ~0.3–0.5. wt. % TOC (total organic carbon) for gas hydrate formation, while earlier workers predicted TOC as low as ~0.1–0.2. wt. % could produce biogenic gas. However, the hydrogen content (recognized as the limiting reagent in hydrocarbon generation for over 50 years) needed for biogenic gas generation and gas hydrate formation is poorly understood. Furthermore, the minimum organic contents needed for gas hydrate formation have not been investigated via basin-scale computational modeling. Here, we construct a synthetic 3-D basin and gas hydrate system model to investigate minimum sediment TOC and hydrogen (HI, hydrogen index) contents needed for gas hydrate formation. Our modelling suggests that, under geologically favorable conditions, TOC as low as 0.1. wt. % (paired with 100 HI) and HI as low as 50 (paired with 0.2. wt. % TOC) may produce biogenic gas hydrate saturations above 1%. Our modelling demonstrates the importance of basin-scale investigation of hydrocarbon systems and demonstrates how the confluence of favorable structural controls (e.g., faults, folds, anticlines) and stratigraphic controls (e.g., carrier beds, reservoirs) can result in gas hydrate accumulations, even in organic-poor settings. |
format |
Text |
author |
Zachary F. M. Burton Laura N. Dafov |
author_facet |
Zachary F. M. Burton Laura N. Dafov |
author_sort |
Zachary F. M. Burton |
title |
Testing the Sediment Organic Contents Required for Biogenic Gas Hydrate Formation: Insights from Synthetic 3-D Basin and Hydrocarbon System Modelling |
title_short |
Testing the Sediment Organic Contents Required for Biogenic Gas Hydrate Formation: Insights from Synthetic 3-D Basin and Hydrocarbon System Modelling |
title_full |
Testing the Sediment Organic Contents Required for Biogenic Gas Hydrate Formation: Insights from Synthetic 3-D Basin and Hydrocarbon System Modelling |
title_fullStr |
Testing the Sediment Organic Contents Required for Biogenic Gas Hydrate Formation: Insights from Synthetic 3-D Basin and Hydrocarbon System Modelling |
title_full_unstemmed |
Testing the Sediment Organic Contents Required for Biogenic Gas Hydrate Formation: Insights from Synthetic 3-D Basin and Hydrocarbon System Modelling |
title_sort |
testing the sediment organic contents required for biogenic gas hydrate formation: insights from synthetic 3-d basin and hydrocarbon system modelling |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/fuels3030033 |
op_coverage |
agris |
genre |
Methane hydrate |
genre_facet |
Methane hydrate |
op_source |
Fuels; Volume 3; Issue 3; Pages: 555-562 |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fuels3030033 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/fuels3030033 |
container_title |
Fuels |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
555 |
op_container_end_page |
562 |
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1774719970489401344 |