U.N. Environmental Program Review of Gas Hydrates R&D

	UNEP/GRID Arendal international steering committee at work.

The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP/GRID-Arendal) kicked off its global review of methane gas hydrates in the natural environment with a meeting of its international steering committee on March 4 and 5 in Arendal, Norway. Steering committee members, including two researchers from NETL as well as leading researchers from Canada, Japan, Germany, Korea, India, and Norway, worked for two days to finalize the outline and goals for the project, which will ultimately result in the publication of a hard copy book, e-book, and web-based information portal. These references will provide interested parties with basic information about gas hydrates and their role in the natural environment.

They will also discuss global climate cycle and energy security implications of naturally occurring gas hydrates as well as the current state of knowledge regarding methane hydrates R&D.

The review was prompted by UNEP’s recognition of gas hydrates as an emerging global issue linked to both future energy supply and global environmental change.

Natural gas hydrate systems are steadily gaining attention in the media and within the scientific, government, and industry communities, but many questions and issues associated with natural gas hydrates remain. As a result, the UNEP/Grid review of natural gas hydrate systems comes at the right time to present the current state of knowledge within these communities. This review highlights issues and areas that will require future attention in order to constrain and better understand the role of natural gas hydrates in the global climate cycle, their potential as a “lower-carbon” energy source, and related environmental and socio-economic issues.

(Source of information: Ray Boswell, 304-285-4541, and Kelly Rose, 304-285-4157)

New Technique to Form Methane Hydrate

	This diagram illustrates the NETL-designed nozzle which allows almost instantaneous and continuous formation of methane hydrate.

Experiments at NETL have shown that rapid formation of methane (natural gas) hydrate, and other gas hydrates, is possible. The rapid hydrate formation process is made possible by use of a novel (U.S. Patent application in progress) nozzle which allows almost instantaneous and continuous formation of methane hydrate. The process occurs at temperatures between 5 - 15°C in a 900 psig methane environment. The process was conducted in the 15 L hydrate cell, also designed at NETL. Hydrate formation continued for several days while the flow rates and temperatures of the water and methane and the overall temperature of the methane environment were varied.

Raman Spectroscopy verified that Type I clathrate methane hydrate (the same type of methane hydrate that is found in nature) was formed using this process. Methane hydrate formation typically takes anywhere from a minimum of six hours to several days or weeks in the laboratory setting. Rapid and continuous methane hydrate formation allows a more cost-effective method for the storage and transport of methane compared with conventional compressed and liquefied natural gas. Methane hydrate has the ability to store 164 times its volume (at STP) in gas. The hydrates exhibit a self-preservation phenomenon that allows for the hydrate to be transported at atmospheric pressure and temperatures between -10 to -20 °C. This temperature range is the same as that used commercially to transport frozen foods in trucks, box cars, and ships, requiring no new transportation technology to be utilized for the hydrate transport. This has the potential to provide a tremendous cost savings over compressed and liquefied natural gas transportation.

(Source of information: Thomas D. Brown, 412-386-4691)

Results from DOE Expedition Confirm Existence of Resource-Quality Gas Hydrate in Gulf of Mexico

	Initial findings from the May 2009 expedition of the Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Joint Industry Project (JIP), just released by NETL, detail the extremely valuable and advanced datasets on the various gas hydrate occurrences that were discovered in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

Gas hydrate, a potentially immense energy resource, occurs at high saturations within reservoir-quality sands in the Gulf of Mexico, according to reports released by the Office of Fossil Energy’s (FE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).

Initial findings from the May 2009 expedition of the Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Joint Industry Project (JIP) have just been released by NETL. These reports detail the extremely valuable and advanced datasets on the various gas hydrate occurrences that were discovered in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. In addition, the reports provide significant new information on the optimal drilling and well control protocols for deep gas hydrate research projects.

Gas hydrate is a unique solid substance comprised of natural gas (almost exclusively methane) in combination with water. It is thought to exist in great abundance in nature and has the potential to be a significant new energy source to meet future energy needs. However, prior to this expedition, there was little documentation that gas hydrate occurred in resource-quality accumulations in U.S. waters.

Perhaps most importantly, the expedition and the resulting scientific data validate the integrated geological and geophysical methodology used in the site selection process, and provide increased confidence in the assessment of gas hydrate volumes in the Gulf of Mexico. It is expected that further evaluation of the complex geology of these hydrate deposits, including both conventional and pressure coring, will add significantly to the understanding of the nature and occurrence of gas hydrate-bearing sands in the marine environment. Another expedition to collect core samples from the sites explored in 2009, and to drill, log, and core a new site, is planned for the spring of 2011.

The JIP is a collaborative effort between NETL’s Strategic Center for Natural Gas and Oil, and an industry consortium lead by Chevron. The Office of Fossil Energy’s Oil and Natural Gas Program funded the expedition. The U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Minerals Management Service scientists collaborated with the effort.

Recently released reports cover the initial scientific results from three Gulf of Mexico sites which were explored during the JIP Leg II expedition: Walker Ridge Block 313, Green Canyon Block 955, and Alaminos Canyon Block 21.

The initial set of reports includes—

• Technical Summary—Planning, operations, and results, including a high-level overview of the objectives of the expedition, the site selection process, and summaries of the setting and drilling results for each of the three expedition sites.
• Operational Summary—Daily logs of expedition activities, problems encountered, and lessons learned.
• Logging-While-Drilling Methods—Overview of logging-while-drilling (LWD) data collection and analysis methods used during the expedition.
• Site Summaries—Detailed descriptions of each of the sites visited and initial comparisons of the pre- and post-drill evaluation at each location.
• Logging-While-Drilling Operations and Results—Detailed LWD results for each site.
• Pre-drill Site Evaluation and Selection Reports—Site selection methodology and criteria, including geologic interpretations and prioritized drilling targets, selection of gas hydrate saturation intervals, drilling hazard assessments, and borehole stability and operational recommendations for each site.