Evaluation of thermal stimulation on gas production from depressurized methane hydrate deposits

Natural gas hydrates have gained worldwide attention as an important potential non-conventional fossil fuel resource. Understanding the gas production behavior from hydrate deposits is critical to the utilization of the gas hydrate resource. In this study, the hydrate dissociation reaction was induced by depressurization in conjunction with thermal stimulation. Profiles of temperature, pressure, gas production rate, and cumulative gas production during the gas production processes were analyzed. The results show that the gas production process upon ice generation can be divided into five main stages: (1) a free gas release, (2) hydrate dissociation along the equilibrium curve driven by the reservoir sensible heat, (3) hydrate dissociation driven by the exothermic ice generation reaction, (4) ice melting and hydrate dissociation under ambient heat transfer, and (5) hydrate dissociation under ambient heat transfer. During the gas production process, two thermal stimulation methods-ambient heat transfer and warm water injection-were employed to supply heat for hydrate dissociation. The larger the heat flux supplied by ambient heat transfer, the greater the gas production. During the warm water injection process, the gas production time decreased as the temperature of the injected water increased. These two methods can effectively promote gas production from gas hydrate deposits. The findings of this study can provide some insight for designing and implementing optimal production techniques for use of hydrate resources.