Journal
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
Volume 40, Issue 21, Pages 5637-5641Publisher
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
DOI: 10.1002/2013GL057884
Keywords
air entry pressure; network model; patchy hydrate; hydrate pore habit; van Genuchten model; scale effect
Categories
Funding
- Department of Energy/Joint Industry Project for methane hydrate
- Goizueta Foundation
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The water retention curve plays a central role in numerical algorithms that model hydrate dissociation in sediments. The determination of the water retention curve for hydrate-bearing sediments faces experimental difficulties, and most studies assume constant water retention curves regardless of hydrate saturation. This study employs network model simulation to investigate the water retention curve for hydrate-bearing sediments. Results show that (1) hydrate in pores shifts the curve to higher capillary pressures and the air entry pressure increases as a power function of hydrate saturation; (2) the air entry pressure is lower in sediments with patchy rather than distributed hydrate, with higher pore size variation and pore connectivity or with lower specimen slenderness along the flow direction; and (3) smaller specimens render higher variance in computed water retention curves, especially at high water saturation S-w>0.7. Results are relevant to other sediment pore processes such as bioclogging and mineral precipitation.
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