An experimental study of resistivity variation in the 3D simulation of methane hydrate generation and production

作者：Li Xiaosen^*; Feng Jingchun; Li Gang; Wang Yi

来源：Natural Gas Industry, 2013, 33(7): 18-23.

DOI：10.3787/j.issn.1000-0976.2013.07.003

• 3D hydrate reactor
• Characteristic parameter
• Hydrate formation process
• Hydrate saturation
• Laboratory simulation
• Laboratory simulation studies
• Methane hydrates
• Resistivity variation

To solve the global energy crisis and global warming, the related research about the discovery and extraction of natural gas hydrate has been and is being developed all over the world, among which the resistivity of hydrate, a research focus, is a significant parameter to characterize how the methane hydrate changes in the process of its generation and production. However, few literatures on such subject have ever been found. In view of this, a laboratory simulation study was carried out in a 3D hydrate reactor, focusing on the characteristics of resistivity variation respectively when methane hydrate was generated in a multi-porous medium and when it was extracted through the heat stimulation method in the dual horizontal wells. The following findings were obtained. a. The resistivity rises in the process of hydrate generation but falls with the hydrate dissociation. b. The resistivity is not directly proportional to the hydrate saturation; when the hydrate saturation climbs to a certain level, the change of resistivity starts to get slow. c. The phenomenon of "climbing effect" is observed in the hydrate formation process. That is, the formation of methane hydrate in the multi-pore medium is asynchronous, so the generated hydrates are obviously more in the boundary areas than those in the central area. d. In the process of hydrate production, the resistivity is not only related to the hydrate dissociation, but to the flow of fluids like gas and water; that is why the interference of fluid flow should be eliminated before the resistivity is used as a characteristic parameter of hydrate production.

• 出版日期2013