Geomechanical responses during gas hydrate production induced by depressurization

Abstract

Methane hydrate has been received large attention as a new energy source instead of oil and fossil fuel. However, there is high potential for geomechanical stability problems such as marine landslides, seafloor subsidence, and large volume contraction in the hydrate-bearing sediment during gas production induced by depressurization. In this study, a thermal-hydraulic-mechanical coupled numerical analysis is conducted to simulate methane gas production from the hydrate deposits in the Ulleung basin, East Sea, Korea. The field-scale axisymmetric model incorporates the physical processes of hydrate dissociation, pore fluid flow, thermal changes (i.e., latent heat, conduction and advection), and geomechanical behaviors of the hydrate-bearing sediment. During depressurization, deformation of sediments around the production well is generated by the effective stress transformed from the pore pressure difference in the depressurized region. This tendency becomes more pronounced due to the stiffness decrease of hydrate-bearing sediments which is caused by hydrate dissociation.