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http://dx.doi.org/10.7843/kgs.2014.30.9.67

Development of a Numerical Simulator for Methane-hydrate Production  

Shin, Hosung (Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engrg., Univ. of Ulsan)
Publication Information
Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society / v.30, no.9, 2014 , pp. 67-75 More about this Journal
Abstract
Methane gas hydrate which is considered energy source for the next generation has an urgent need to develop reliable numerical simulator for coupled THM phenomena in the porous media, to minimize problems arising during the production and optimize production procedures. International collaborations to improve previous numerical codes are in progress, but they still have mismatch in the predicted value and unstable convergence. In this paper, FEM code for fully coupled THM phenomena is developed to analyze methane hydrate dissociation in the porous media. Coupled partial differential equations are derived from four mass balance equations (methane hydrate, soil, water, and hydrate gas), energy balance equation, and force equilibrium equation. Five main variables (displacement, gas saturation, fluid pressure, temperature, and hydrate saturation) are chosen to give higher numerical convergence through trial combinations of variables, and they can analyze the whole region of a phase change in hydrate bearing porous media. The kinetic model is used to predict dissociation of methane hydrate. Developed THM FEM code is applied to the comparative study on a Masuda's laboratory experiment for the hydrate production, and verified for the stability and convergence.
Keywords
Methane gas hydrate; THM; FEM;
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Times Cited By KSCI : 2  (Citation Analysis)
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