During the solid fluidization exploitation of shallow non-diagenetic NGHs (Natural Gas Hydrates) in the deep-water, hydrates together with mineral sand, natural gas, seawater and drilling fluids flow in the production pipeline. Natural gas released from hydrates during the process of solid fluidization will reform hydrates under the suitable conditions. Therefore, research on the formation and dissociation of methane hydrates in the presence of fine-grain sands is of great significance for ensuring the flow assurance of solid fluidization exploitation of shallow non-diagenetic NGHs in the deep-water field. In this paper, a high-pressure autoclave was used to carry out the experiments of hydrate formation and dissociation under different initial pressures and particle sizes of the fine-grain sand, for investigating into the hydrate induction time, formation amount, rate and dissociation affected by the presence of the fine-grain sand. Results indicated that hydrate formation kinetics in the presence of fine-grain sand was supposed to be also affected by mass/heat transfer, thermodynamics and kinetics. The fine-grain sand would be dispersed in the water phase under the effect of buoyancy, gravity and shearing force. Besides, the fine-grain sand at the gas-water interface would hinder the mass transfer of the methane gas into the water, inhibiting the nucleation of the hydrates, which was more obviously at the lower pressure. When the driving force for hydrate formation was larger, hydrate formation amount increased with the decrease of the particle size of the fine-grain sand. However, hydrate formation amount decreased with the decrease of the particle size of the fine-grain sand when the driving force for hydrate formation was lower. The average growth rate in the presence of fine-grain sand with 2.9 μm was larger than that of 9.9 μm. However, hydrates grew rapidly and subsequently tended to grow at a lower rate in the presence of fine-grain sand with 2.9 μm at 8.0 MPa initial pressure, which was assumed to be affected by the unconverted water wrapped inside the hydrate shell. The changing trends of gas emission during the dissociation process between the sand-containing system and the pure water system were nearly the same. The amount of gas emission reached a peak value within 15 minutes and then tended to stabilize. The difference in the amount of gas emission mainly depended on the formation amount before hydrate dissociation. Hydrates grew rapidly once methane hydrates nucleated in the presence of the fine-grain sand at the lower pressure, which would increase the plugging risk during the process of the solid fluidization exploitation. Further study of the fine-grain sand on flow assurance during hydrate dissociation process should be done in the future. The results of this paper provided an important theoretical basis and technical support for reducing the risk in the process of the solid fluidization exploitation of shallow non-diagenetic NGHs in the deep-water field.
The cost and security of ocean drilling are directly related to the efficient exploration and development of ocean resources. The riserless drilling system is usually adopted in the ocean drilling. With the consideration of marine environment load, a dynamic analysis model of drill string in deep-water riserless drilling is established. This model aims to analyze the dynamic characteristics of drill string in the water and down hole during the process of deep-water riserless drilling. The research results are as follows. For the drill string in water, its displacement increase with the increase of ocean current velocity, water depth, rotation speed, and WOB. But the rotation speed and WOB have less influence. The drill string in down hole shows the same pattern. However, the drill string in down hole is only affected near the mud line and the bit, and the rest of the drill string is almost unaffected. In deep-water riserless drilling, stress on the drill string at the wellhead, near the mudline, and at the bottom hole assembly (BHA) is complex. The safety of drill string at these locations should be given great attention.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.