Nengyou Wu

Gas Hydrate System of Shenhu Area, Northern South China Sea: Geochemical Results

The drilling recovered high-concentration methane hydrates (maximum 26–48%) in a disseminated form in silty clay sediments in Shenhu area of Pearl River Mouth Basin, South China Sea. Combining the geochemical data, the gas hydrate-bearing sediments are 10 m to 43 m in thickness and located just above the base of the gas hydrate stability zone. The methane content is 96.10–99.91% with small amount of ethane and propane. The baseline chlorinity of pore waters shows 10% lower than that of shallow sediments below and inside the gas hydrate zone. The methane/ethane ratios are higher than 1000 above the gas hydrate zone and less than 1000 at the interval of gas hydrate zone. The depth of sulphate methane interface varies from site to site as 17 to 27 mbsf. These results show that the methane of gas hydrate was mainly originated from microbial activity and the upward methane flux is minor. This is evidenced by the values of headspace gases from the gravity piston cores and released gases from pressure cores, which range from −74.3‰  PDB to −46.2‰  PDB, with the majority less than −55%‰  PDB. The hydrate deposit is a distributed gas hydrate system in Shenhu area.

HIGH CONCENTRATION HYDRATE IN DISSEMINATED FORMS OBTAINED IN SHENHU AREA, NORTH SLOPE OF SOUTH CHINA SEA

In April-June of 2007, a gas hydrate drilling expedition was carried out by using M/V Bavenit in Shenhu Area, the north slope of South China Sea. High concentrations of hydrate (>40%) were obtained in a disseminated forms in foram-rich clay sediments at 3 selected sites. The hydratebearing sediments ranged several ten meters in thickness are located in the lower part of GHSZ, just above the BGHSZ, and are typically characteristic of higher sonic velocity and resistivity, and lower gamma density in wireline logging profiles. Evidences for gas hydrate include the IR cold spots and temperature anomalies, salinity and chlorite geochemical anomaly of pore water for non-pressurized cores, and X-ray imaging, high p-wave velocity and low gamma density, and high concentration of methane from the pressurized cores. Gasses are mainly methane (max. ethane 0.2-0.3%), therefore only hydrate S1 is formed. It is inferred that the foram content and other silt size grains may provide enough free water for the hydrate to happily occupy both the large spaces in the forams and for it to distribute itself evenly (disseminated) throughout the formation. It is possible that all the forams are hydrate filled. As the forams are visible does this not count for visible white gas hydrates.

Evaluation of Alternative Horizontal Well Designs for Gas Production From Hydrate Deposits in the Shenhu Area, South China Sea

Author(s): Zhang, K; Moridis, GJ; Wu, N; Li, X; Reagan, MT | Abstract: Gas hydrate deposits were confirmed in the Shenhu Area, the north slope of South China Sea during a drilling expedition in 2007. Hydrate deposits in the area are distributed in disseminated forms in forams-rich clay sediments with permeable overburden and underburden layers. Production of gas from such a type of hydrate deposits is very challenging. In this study, we develop a numerical approach for investigation of gas production strategies by horizontal wells and preliminary estimation of the production potential based on the limited data that are currently available. Numerical models are built to represent the typical hydrate deposits in the area, including the thickness of the Hydrate-Bearing Layer (HBL), hydrate saturation, water depth, temperature at the sea floor, initial thermal gradient and pressure distribution. The models are used to simulate the different production schemes and well designs. In this paper, production strategies of horizontal well system with combination of depressurization and thermal stimulation are investigated through numerical models. Gas production potential from the deposits and effectiveness of the different production methods are evaluated. The simulation results indicate that with current technology, gas production from Shenhu hydrate deposits may not be economically efficient for all the production strategies we have investigated. Copyright 2010, Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Simulation of advective methane flux and AOM in Shenhu area, the northern South China Sea

Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) occurring in the marine sediment is an important process for methane cycle and methane sequestration. In this work, a one-dimensional numerical model was developed to study the distribution of advective methane flux with the AOM process. The model has been applied to investigate the gas hydrates bearing sediments of Shenhu areas located in the northern South China Sea, where advective methane transport was detected. The modeling results suggest that methane flux will be consumed in the sediment column via dissolution, sorption, and AOM reaction. Only when the methane flux was one order of magnitude higher than current level, then a portion of methane will enter water column and possibly escape to the atmosphere. The numerical simulation also revealed that, due to the lower permeability of the silt–clay sediments, a much thicker sulfate-methane transition zone exists in the Shenhu area, where AOM is able to consume more.

Application of AVO analysis to gas hydrates identification in the northern slope of the South China Sea

Amplitude versus offset (AVO) analysis is a conventional seismic exploration technique in geophysical and lithological interpretation and has been widely used in onshore and offshore exploration. Its use in marine gas hydrate research, however, is still in initial stages. In this study, AVO analysis is applied to seismic profiles at drilling sites where hydrate samples have been recovered. The AVO responses of free gas, bottom simulating reflector (BSRs), and gas hydrates are discussed, and the AVO attributes in relation to gas hydrates are summarized. The results show that changes in intercept, gradient, fluid factor and Poisson’s ratio clearly reflect: (i) location of free gas and the BSR, and (ii) spatial relations between blank zone, BSR, gas hydrate, and free gas.

Molecular dynamics simulations of the mechanisms of thermal conduction in methane hydrates

The thermal conductivity of methane hydrate is an important physical parameter affecting the processes of methane hydrate exploration, mining, gas hydrate storage and transportation as well as other applications. Equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations and the Green-Kubo method have been employed for systems from fully occupied to vacant occupied sI methane hydrate in order to estimate their thermal conductivity. The estimations were carried out at temperatures from 203.15 to 263.15 K and at pressures from 3 to 100 MPa. Potential models selected for water were TIP4P, TIP4P-Ew, TIP4P/2005, TIP4P-FQ and TIP4P/Ice. The effects of varying the ratio of the host and guest molecules and the external thermobaric conditions on the thermal conductivity of methane hydrate were studied. The results indicated that the thermal conductivity of methane hydrate is essentially determined by the cage framework which constitutes the hydrate lattice and the cage framework has only slightly higher thermal conductivity in the presence of the guest molecules. Inclusion of more guest molecules in the cage improves the thermal conductivity of methane hydrate. It is also revealed that the thermal conductivity of the sI hydrate shows a similar variation with temperature. Pressure also has an effect on the thermal conductivity, particularly at higher pressures. As the pressure increases, slightly higher thermal conductivities result. Changes in density have little impact on the thermal conductivity of methane hydrate.

Methane seepage in the Shenhu area of the northern South China Sea: constraints from carbonate chimneys

Two authigenic carbonate chimneys were recovered from the Shenhu area in the northern South China Sea at approximately 400 m water depth. The chimneys’ mineralogy, isotopic composition, and lipid biomarkers were studied to examine the biogeochemical process that induced the formation of the chimneys. The two chimneys are composed mostly of dolomite, whereas the internal conduits and semi-consolidated surrounding sediments are dominated by aragonite and calcite. The specific biomarker patterns (distribution of lipids and their depleted δ13C values) indicate the low occurrence of methanotrophic archaea ANME-1 responsible for the chimneys’ formation via anaerobic oxidation of methane. A significant input of bacteria/planktonic algae and cyanobacteria to the carbon pool during the precipitation of the carbonate chimneys is suggested by the high contributions of short-chain n-alkanes (69% of total hydrocarbons) and long-chain n-alcohols (on average 56% of total alcohols). The oxygen isotopic compositions of the carbonate mixtures vary from 3.1‰ to 4.4‰ in the dolomite-rich chimneys, and from 2.1‰ to 2.5‰ in the internal conduits, which indicates that they were precipitated from seawater-derived pore waters during a long period covering the last glacial and interglacial cycles. In addition, the mixture of methane and bottom seawater dissolved inorganic carbon could be the carbon sources of the carbonate chimneys.

Early Diagenesis Records and Pore Water Composition of Methane-Seep Sediments from the Southeast Hainan Basin, South China Sea

Several authigenic minerals were identified by XRD and SEM analyses in shallow sediments from the Southeast Hainan Basin, on the northern slope of South China Sea. These minerals include miscellaneous carbonates, sulphates, and framboidal pyrite, and this mineral assemblage indicates the existence of gas hydrates and a methane seep. The assemblage and fabric features of the minerals are similar to those identified in cold-seep sediments, which are thought to be related to microorganisms fostered by dissolved methane. Chemical composition of pore water shows that the concentrations of SO42-, Ca2

Alcohol compounds in Azolla imbricata and potential source implication for marine sediments

This study investigated the composition of long-chain alkyl diols, triols, sec-alcohols, hydroxyl acids, and other hydroxylated compounds in Azolla imbricata and compared the organic alcohol components of Azolla filiculoides, Azolla microphylla, and South China Sea (SCS) sediments in order to investigate the possible indication of Azolla being the biological source of diols and triols in SCS sediment. Large amounts of diols, monohydroxy acids, and sec-alcohols with internal hydroxy groups at ω20 were detected in the three types of Azolla. Among these, 1,ω20-diol and ω20-hydroxy acid exhibited strong even-odd predominance distribution, whereas ω20-sec-alcohol exhibited strong odd-even predominance distribution. In addition, small amounts of diols, triols, and dihydroxy acids with internal hydroxy groups at 9, 10 or ω9, ω10 were detected, among which the chain length of C29 was predominate. Compounds having similar structures as those in Azolla reflected a similar biosynthetic pathway: ω20-hydroxy acid exhibiting even-odd predominance distribution is decarboxylated to ω20-sec-alcohol exhibiting odd-even predominance distribution and converted to 1, ω20-diol with even-odd predominance distribution by acyl reduction; ω9, ω10-hydroxy acid is converted to 1,20,21(1, ω9, ω10)-triol by acyl reduction, and then converted to 9,10-diol by hydrogenation and dehydration. The alcohol components in A. imbricata were clearly not the biological source of 1,13/1,14/1,15-C28, 30, 32 diols and 1,3,4-C27-29 triols in the SCS sediment. Certain marine diatoms might be the source of 1,14-C28, 30 diol in inshore sediment, but the biological source of diols and triols in the SCS sediment requires further investigation.

Heat Flow Calculation Based on Seismic Data

Heat flow calculation is a reliable method to estimate the vibration about temperature, main factors of the existence of marine gas hydrates below seafloor. It would increase the accuracy of resources volume estimating and reduce cost of exploration significantly. Depth of Bottom Simulating Reflectors (BSRs), known as the base of gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ), is a critical variable in this calculation. It should be recognized and mapped using the good quality three-dimensional (3D) pre-stack migration seismic data. By introducing heat flow derived from the depths of BSRs, this method would improve the resolution of the profiles and the quality of imaging and can be used in the specific areas.