Simulation of CH4 recovery from hydrate deposits by injection of CO2

Abstract

The paper presents a mathematical model of CH 4 recovery from gas hydrate deposits via injection of liquid CO 2. The process of CH 4 recovery is supposed to occur on the moving frontal boundary separating the deposit into two domains. The near domain is saturated with liquid CO 2 and its hydrate while the far one is saturated with CH 4 and its hydrate. Self-similar solutions describing the temperature and pressure fields were obtained. The effect of main parameters on the dynamics of the process under study was explored. It was revealed that at low temperatures of the CO 2 being injected the temperature in the far domain did not exceed that of equilibrium for decomposition of CH 4 gas hydrate. It was also found that with increasing pressure at which CO 2 was injected into the gas hydrate domain, the extension of the region saturated with CO 2 hydrate was increasing.