Issue |
Sci. Tech. Energ. Transition
Volume 79, 2024
Selected Papers from First European Conference on Gas Hydrates (ECGH), 2022
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 14 | |
Number of page(s) | 14 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.2516/stet/2024012 | |
Published online | 08 March 2024 |
Regular Article
Mechanical behaviour and microstructure of methane hydrate-bearing sandy sediment observed at various spatial scales
1
Laboratoire Navier, Ecole des Ponts, Univ Gustave Eiffel, CNRS, 6-8 avenue Blaise Pascal, 77455 Marne-la-Vallée, France
2
Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, E2S UPPA, CNRS, LFCR, 64000 Pau, France
3
Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'Orme des Merisiers Départementale 128, 91190 Saint-Aubin, France
* Corresponding author: anh-minh.tang@enpc.fr
Received:
29
March
2023
Accepted:
24
January
2024
Methane hydrates (MHs) are considered an alternative energy resource but also a potential source of geo-hazards and climate change. The physical/mechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sandy sediments are strongly dependent on the distribution of hydrates within the pore space. The purpose of this study is to investigate morphologies and pore-habits of MHs formed in sandy sediments by means of experiments that probe a wide range of scales, from the pore scale – using Synchrotron X-Ray Computed Tomography (SXRCT) and optical microscopy – to the core scale, through mechanical property measurements. The same synthetic sands are used, in which MHs are generated successively under excess gas and excess water conditions. At the macroscopic (core) scale, MH pore habits are inferred by comparing the measured sonic wave velocities to velocities calculated from rock physics models and further assessed via triaxial compression tests. Furthermore, Magnetic Resonance Imaging is used to investigate the kinetics of MH formation and distribution along the core height. The pore habits and MH morphologies are directly visualized at the pore (grain) scale by SXRCT and, with still better spatial and temporal resolution, by transmission optical microscopy, revealing some more complex morphologies than in the hydrate pore habits commonly admitted.
Key words: Gas hydrates / Sediment / Microstructure / Mechanical properties
© The Author(s), published by EDP Sciences, 2024
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Current usage metrics show cumulative count of Article Views (full-text article views including HTML views, PDF and ePub downloads, according to the available data) and Abstracts Views on Vision4Press platform.
Data correspond to usage on the plateform after 2015. The current usage metrics is available 48-96 hours after online publication and is updated daily on week days.
Initial download of the metrics may take a while.