Gas hydrate in-situ formation and dissociation in clayey-silt sediments: An investigation by low-field NMR

The hydrate reservoir in the Shenhu Area of the South China Sea is a typical clayey-silt porous media with high clay mineral content and poor cementation, in which gas hydrate formation and dissociation characteristics are unclear. In this study, the CO2 hydrate saturation, growth rate, and permeability were studied in sandstone, artificial samples, and clayey-silt sediments using a custom-built measurement apparatus based on the low-field NMR technique. Results show that the T2 spectra amplitudes decrease with the hydrate formation and increase with the dissociation process. For the artificial samples and Shenhu sediments, the CO2 hydrate occupies larger pores first and the homogeneity of the sandstone pores becomes poor. Meanwhile, compared with the clayey-silt sediments, CO2 hydrate is easier to form and with higher hydrate saturation for the sandstone and artificial samples. In hydrate dissociation process, there exists a protection mechanism, i.e. the dissociation near the center of hydrates grain is suppressed when gas pressure drops suddenly and quickly. For permeability of those samples, it decreased with hydrate forms, and increases with hydrate dissociation. Meanwhile, with the same hydrate saturation, permeability is higher in hydrate formation than in dissociation.