Permeability testing system for gas hydrate-sediment mixtures

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Gas hydrates are solid crystalline compounds composed of water and gas in a very compact form.  Natural gas hydrates contain enough methane gas to potentially double the world's energy reserves; in Canada our gas hydrate resource has been estimated to be fifty times our remaining conventional reserves.  While methane hydrates could meet our growing demand for energy, these reservoirs could also mitigate global climate change by storing carbon dioxide gas.  Sequestration of carbon dioxide as clathrate hydrate, with simultaneous conversion of the in situ methane hydrates into natural gas, offers a double advantage of reducing carbon emissions to the atmosphere while assisting is gas hydrate exploitation.Understanding the permeability of gas hydrate-sediment mixtures is an important factor in assessing the production potential of methane gas hydrate reservoirs.  Gas production rates are strongly influenced by the ability of fluids and gases to flow through the reservoir sediments.  In addition, the conversion of methane hydrate to carbon dioxide hydrate is limited by the contact between the two gases, and thus highly dependent on the formation permeability.  Our current understanding of permeability within these unique systems is very limited, with a models and measurements showing a variation of seven orders of magnitude in the predicted permeability for the same hydrate saturation.Fundamental experiments will be carried out to study and assess the permeability of sediments containing gas hydrates.  The specialized Geotechnical Gas Hydrates Research Laboratory will be equipped with new apparatus which will enable direct and indirect permeability measurements.  The experimental results will be used to calibrate hydrate reservoir simulators and ultimately work towards the realization of production of methane gas from natural hydrate reservoirs, with and without simultaneous carbon sequestration.