THERMAL PROPERTIES OF METHANE HYDRATE BY EXPERIMENT AND MODELING AND IMPACTS UPON TECHNOLOGY

• Main Authors: Warzinski, Robert P., Gamwo, Isaac K., Rosenbaum, Eilis J., Myshakin, Evgeniy M., Jiang, Hao, Jordan, Kenneth D., English, Niall J., Shaw, David W.
• Other Authors: University of British Columbia. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, International Conference on Gas Hydrates (6th : 2008 : Vancouver, B.C.)
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: Gas hydrates; Thermal conductivity; Thermal diffusivity; Molecular modeling; Reservoir simulation; Methane hydrate
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/1221

Thermal properties of pure methane hydrate, under conditions similar to naturally occurring hydrate-bearing sediments being considered for potential production, have been determined both by a new experimental technique and by advanced molecular dynamics simulation (MDS). A novel single-sided, Transient Plane Source (TPS) technique has been developed and used to measure thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity values of low-porosity methane hydrate formed in the laboratory. The experimental thermal conductivity data are closely matched by results from an equilibrium MDS method using in-plane polarization of the water molecules. MDS was also performed using a non-equilibrium model with a fully polarizable force field for water. The calculated thermal conductivity values from this latter approach were similar to the experimental data. The impact of thermal conductivity on gas production from a hydrate-bearing reservoir was also evaluated using the Tough+/Hydrate reservoir simulator (Revised version of ICGH paper 5646). Non UBC Unreviewed