Influences of pore fluid on gas production from hydrate-bearing reservoir by depressurization

In addition to the temperature and pressure conditions, the pore fluid composition and migration behavior are also crucial to control hydrate decomposition in the exploitation process. In this work, to investigate the effects of these factors, a series of depressurization experiments were carried out in a visible one-dimensional reactor, using hydrate reservoir samples with water saturations ranging from 20% to 65%. The results showed a linear relationship between gas production rates and gas saturations of the reservoir, suggesting that a larger gas-phase space was conducive to hydrate decomposition and gas outflow. Therefore, the rapid water production in the early stage of hydrate exploitation could release more gas-phase space in the water-rich reservoir, which in turn improved the gas production efficiency. Meanwhile, the spatiotemporal evolution of pore fluids could lead to partial accelerated decomposition or secondary formation of hydrates. In the unsealed reservoir, the peripheral water infiltration kept reservoir at a high water saturation, which hindered the overall production process and caused higher water production. Importantly, depressurization assisted with the N2 sweep could displace the pore water rapidly. According to the results, it is recommended that using the short-term N2 sweep as an auxiliary means in the early stage of depressurization to expand the gas-phase space in order to achieve the highest production efficiency. (c) 2022 The Authors. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/ 4.0/).

Automated summary

In addition to temperature and pressure, pore fluid composition and migration behavior play crucial roles in the decomposition of hydrates during exploitation. This study conducted depressurization experiments using hydrate reservoir samples with different water saturations to investigate these factors. The results showed that a larger gas-phase space facilitated hydrate decomposition and gas outflow, ultimately improving gas production efficiency. Additionally, the spatiotemporal evolution of pore fluids could affect hydrate decomposition or formation. It is recommended to use short-term N2 sweep during the early stages of depressurization to enhance gas-phase space and optimize production efficiency.