S U M M A R YA LArge Reservoir Simulator (LARS) was equipped with an electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) array to monitor hydrate formation and dissociation experiments. During two hydrate formation experiments reaching 90 per cent bulk hydrate saturation, frequent measurements of the electrical properties within the sediment sample were performed. Subsequently, several common mixing rules, including two different interpretations of Archie's law, were tested to convert the obtained distribution of the electrical resistivity into the spatial distribution of local hydrate saturation. It turned out that the best results estimating values of local hydrate saturation were obtained using the Archie var-phi approach where the increasing hydrate phase is interpreted as part of the sediment grain framework reducing the sample's porosity. These values of local hydrate saturation were used to determine local permeabilities by applying the Carman-Kozeny relation. The formed hydrates were dissociated via depressurization. The decomposition onset as well as areas featuring hydrates and free gas were inferred from the ERT results. Supplemental consideration of temperature and pressure data granted information on discrete areas of hydrate dissociation.

Gas hydrate production is still in the test phase. It is only now that numerical models are being developed to describe data and production scenarios. Laboratory experiments are carried out to test the rationale of the conceptual models and deliver input data. Major experimental challenges include (I) the simulation of a natural three-phase system of sand−hydrate− liquid with known and high hydrate saturations and (II) the simulation of transport behavior as deduced from field data. The large-scale reservoir simulator (LARS; 210 L sample) at the GFZ has met these challenges and allowed for the first simulation of the gas production test from permafrost hydrates at the Mallik drill site (Canada) via multistage depressurization. At the starting position, hydrate saturation was as high as 90%, formed from dissolved methane only. Whereas gas hydrate dissociation determined the flow patterns in the early pressure stages, the importance of different transport behaviors increased at lower pressure stages and increasing water content. Gas flow patterns as observed in Mallik were recorded. While the conceptual model for the experimental data does agree with the model proposed for Mallik at moderate and low gas production, it is different at high gas production rates.

The LArge Reservoir Simulator (LARS) was developed to investigate various processes during gas hydrate formation and dissociation under simulated in situ conditions of relatively high pressure and low temperature (close to natural conditions). To monitor the spatial hydrate distribution during hydrate formation and the mobility of the free gas phase generated during hydrate dissociation, a cylindrical Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) array was implemented into LARS. The ERT contains 375 electrodes, arranged in 25 circular rings featuring 15 electrodes each. The electrodes were attached to a neoprene jacket surrounding the sediment sample. Circular (2D) dipole-dipole measurements are performed which can be extended with additional 3D cross measurements to provide supplemental data. The data quality is satisfactory, with the mean standard deviation due to permanent background noise and data scattering found to be in the order of 2.12%. The measured data are processed using the inversion software tool Boundless Electrical Resistivity Tomography to solve the inverse problem. Here, we use data recorded in LARS to demonstrate the data quality, sensitivity, and spatial resolution that can be obtained with this ERT array. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx

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Figure 3. (A) Progress of pressure (upper panel) and temperature (lower panel) during experiment A. For the location of the temperature sensors, see upper left corner of Figure 3B. (B) P−T paths as recorded during experiment A in comparison to calculated methane hydrate stability curves at 9.5 g/dm 3 NaCl (using CSMGem software). 3 The red arrows indicate the induced pressure steps, and the dashed blue lines indicate the accompanying average temperature changes. The processes are numbered consecutively. (C) Progress of pressure (upper panel) and temperature (lower panel) during experiment B with sensor distribution in Figure 3D. (D) P−T paths as recorded during experiment B. The measurement distance is 5 and 60 s in experiments A and B, respectively.