This proposal is for an IODP program to constrain models for the formation of deep sea gas hydrate in subduction zone accretionary prisms. The objectives include the deep origin of the methane, its upward transport, its incorporation in gas hydrate, and its subsequent loss to the seafloor. The main attention is on the widespread seafloor-parallel layer of dispersed hydrate located just above th...

Based on currently available data from site measurements in the Shenhu Area of the South China Sea, methane hydrate dissociation behavior by depressurization is studied in a one-dimensional experimental apparatus. According to time variation of temperature, resistance and gas production, the hydrate dissociation process is divided into three stages: free gas release, rapid dissociation and grad...

Gas hydrates are crystalline solids formed from mixtures of water and low molecular weight compounds, referred to as hydrate formers, that typically are gases at ambient conditions (1). Generally, hydrates are formed in the laboratory from two-phase systems by contacting a hydrate former or formers in the gas or liquid phase with liquid water and increasing the pressure until crystalline hydrat...

Hydrocarbon gases were collected from well cuttings and core at the MtElbert-01 gas hydrate stratigraphic test well, drilled within the Milne Point field on the Alaska North Slope. Regionally, the Eileen gas hydrate deposits overlie the more deeply buried Prudhoe Bay, Milne Point, and Kuparuk River oil fields and are restricted to the up-dip portion of a series of nearshore deltaic sandstone re...

Permeability is one of the key factors that determine the fluids flow capacity and production potential of hydrate deposits. In this study, an experimental setup is developed to investigate the flow properties of the porous media, and the permeabilities to water are measured in the unconsolidated porous media with or without hydrate deposition in the pores. A specialized method of precisely con...

A Raman spectrometer extensively modified for deep ocean use was used to measure synthetic hydrates formed in an ocean environment. This was the first time hydrates formed in the ocean have been measured in situ using Raman spectroscopy. Gas hydrates were formed in situ in the Monterey Bay by pressurizing a Pyrex cell with various gas mixtures. Raman spectra were obtained for sI methane hydrate...

Methane hydrates (MHs) are present in large amounts in the ocean floor and permafrost regions. Methane and hydrogen hydrates are being studied as future energy resources and energy storage media. To develop a method for gas production from natural MH-bearing sediments and hydrate-based technologies, it is imperative to understand the thermal properties of gas hydrates. The thermal properties' m...

This collaborative effort to compare the world’s leading gas hydrate reservoir simulators is designed primarily to exchange information and insight that will lead to the improvement in simulation capability of experimental and naturally occurring gas hydrate accumulations. The initial phase of the code comparison activity achieved the simulation of five problems of increasing complexity by five...

The effects of porous medium heterogeneity on methane hydrate formation, water flow through the heterogeneous hydrate-bearing sand, and hydrate dissociation were observed in an experiment using a heterogeneous sand column with prescribed heterogeneities. X-ray computed tomography (CT) was used to monitor saturation changes in water, gas, and hydrate during hydrate formation, water flow, and hyd...

One of the new approaches for capturing carbon dioxide from treated flue gases (post-combustion capture) is based on gas hydrate crystallization. The basis for the separation or capture of the CO(2) is the fact that the carbon dioxide content of gas hydrate crystals is different than that of the flue gas. When a gas mixture of CO(2) and H(2) forms gas hydrates the CO(2) prefers to partition in ...