Comparative assessment of natural gas hydrate production models

摘要

Methane hydrates represent a potentially enormous supply of natural gas, assuming the technology can be developed for commercial gas production from this reservoir type. An important part of this required technology is the development of mathematical models for predicting methane production rates for various field operational strategies. This paper presents a review and analysis of ten types of predictive models for gas hydrates. These models vary from simple energy balance models, to single-phase analytical porous-flow models, to robust three dimensional, three-phase numerical simulators. The models can be broadly classified into depressurization models, and thermal injection models. Each of the ten models focused on specific characteristics of the dissociation, migration, and production of methane from gas hydrates. The models are compared based on what we believe are necessary features for a full-featured hydrate simulator.