Comparison of kinetic and equilibrium reaction models insimulating gas hydrate behavior in porous media

In this study we compare the use of kinetic and equilibriumreaction models in the simulation of gas (methane) hydrate behavior inporous media. Our objective is to evaluate through numerical simulationthe importance of employing kinetic versus equilibrium reaction modelsfor predicting the response of...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kowalsky, Michael B., Moridis, George J.
Language:unknown
Published: 2009
Subjects:
58
DEPRESSURIZATION
GAS HYDRATES
HYDRATES
KINETICS
METHANE
NATURAL GAS
PRODUCTION
SATURATION
SENSITIVITY
SIMULATION
STIMULATION
STIMULI
SURFACE AREA
Methane hydrate
Online Access:http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/923006
https://www.osti.gov/biblio/923006
Description
Summary:In this study we compare the use of kinetic and equilibriumreaction models in the simulation of gas (methane) hydrate behavior inporous media. Our objective is to evaluate through numerical simulationthe importance of employing kinetic versus equilibrium reaction modelsfor predicting the response of hydrate-bearing systems to externalstimuli, such as changes in pressure and temperature. Specifically, we(1) analyze and compare the responses simulated using both reactionmodels for natural gas production from hydrates in various settings andfor the case of depressurization in a hydrate-bearing core duringextraction; and (2) examine the sensitivity to factors such as initialhydrate saturation, hydrate reaction surface area, and numericaldiscretization. We find that for large-scale systems undergoing thermalstimulation and depressurization, the calculated responses for bothreaction models are remarkably similar, though some differences areobserved at early times. However, for modeling short-term processes, suchas the rapid recovery of a hydrate-bearing core, kinetic limitations canbe important, and neglecting them may lead to significantunder-prediction of recoverable hydrate. The use of the equilibriumreaction model often appears to be justified and preferred for simulatingthe behavior of gas hydrates, given that the computational demands forthe kinetic reaction model far exceed those for the equilibrium reactionmodel.

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