[1] An experimental device designed and developed to grow methane hydrate in the pore space of a sediment was successfully used with a glass bead sample. The underlying idea for the experiment is that methane dissolved in water is transported with upward moving fluids from its place of origin at greater depths to formations within the hydrate stability field where the methane is removed from the pore water to form hydrate. This process is simulated in a closed loop flow system where methane charged water from a gas/ water reservoir outside the hydrate stability field is pumped into the sediment sample cell in the stability field for methane hydrate. The fluid depleted of methane, then flows back into the gas/water reservoir to be recharged with methane. When the experiment was terminated due to blockage of flow by hydrate formation, hydrate saturation was about 95%. Citation: Spangenberg, E., J. Kulenkampff, R. Naumann, and J. Erzinger (2005), Pore space hydrate formation in a glass bead sample from methane dissolved in water, Geophys.
[1] The electrical resistivity of an originally fully water saturated glass bead sample during the process of hydrate formation from methane dissolved in the pore water without a free gas phase was measured. In addition to the sample resistivity we measured the resistivity of the circulating water in order to determine the amount of water consumed by hydrate formation from the increase of salinity and to determine the formation resistivity factor and resistivity index. The resistivity of the sample increased from 5.1 Wm at 100% water saturation to 265 Wm at about 95% hydrate saturation whereas the water resistivity decreased from 1.39 Wm to 1.08 Wm. The observed dependence of the resistivity index versus water saturation cannot be described with the Archie-equation using a constant saturation exponent, but corresponds to what was predicted by a cubic sphere pack model.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.