The effect of hydrate saturation on water retention curves in hydrate-bearing sediments

Nariman Mahabadi Mahabad, Xianglei Zheng, Jaewon Jang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

73 Scopus citations

Abstract

The experimental measurement of water retention curve in hydrate-bearing sediments is critically important to understand the behavior of hydrate dissociation and gas production. In this study, tetrahydrofuran (THF) is selected as hydrate former. The pore habit of THF hydrates is investigated by visual observation in a transparent micromodel. It is confirmed that THF hydrates are not wetting phase on the quartz surface of the micromodel and occupy either an entire pore or part of pore space resulting in change in pore size distribution. And the measurement of water retention curves in THF hydrate-bearing sediments with hydrate saturation ranging from Sh = 0 to Sh = 0.7 is conducted for excess water condition. The experimental results show that the gas entry pressure and the capillary pressure increase with increasing hydrate saturation. Based on the experimental results, fitting parameters for van Genuchten equation are suggested for different hydrate saturation conditions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4279-4287
Number of pages9
JournalGeophysical Research Letters
Volume43
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - May 16 2016

Keywords

  • hydrate-bearing sediment
  • tetrahydrofuran hydrate
  • van Genuchten
  • water retention curve

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geophysics
  • General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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