ENERGY FROM

GAS HYDRATES

INTRODUCTION
Gas hydrates are cage-like structures of water
molecules, surrounding molecules of gas,
primarily methane.
Methane is the principal component of natural
gas.
They form when water and natural gas combine
at sufficiently low temperatures and high
pressures.
They seen in the regions of permafrost and in
subseafloor sediments.
Theoretically estimated that maximum of 270
million trillion cubic feet of natural gas exist in
hydrate deposits.

HISTORY
Russian scientists in the late 1960s were the first to
propose that gas hydrate might occur naturally in
marine and onshore locations (Makogon and
Medovskiy,1969)
In the early 1970s, scientists found that gas
hydrate existed below the permafrost and in marine
sediments (Stollet al., 1971; Bily and Dick, 1974).
Deep sea drilling expeditions confirmed that gas
hydrate occurred naturally in deepwater sediments
along outer continental margins (Paull et al., 1996;
Trhu et al., 2003;Riedel et al., Proceedings of the
ODP, 2006).

OCCURANCE
Natural gas hydrates are solid, crystalline, ice-like
substances composed of water, methane, and
usually a small amount of other gases,
With the gases being trapped in the interstices of
a water-ice lattice.
They form under moderately high pressure and at
temperatures near the freezing point of water.
In the United States, very large methane hydrate
deposits are located both on- and offshore
northern Alaska.

OCCURANCE

Fig:3 Location of known and inferred gas

hydrate occurrences
Kvenvolden and Rogers, 2005)
Reproduced with permission from Keith Kvenvolden and Bruce Rogers.

HYDRATE STABILITY
stability of the gas hydrate mostly depends on
pressure and temperature.
the mechanical properties of gas hydrate are
similar to those of ice because gas hydrate
contains about 85 % water by mass.
It may look like ice, it does not behave like ice
for example, it burns when lit with a match.
colder temperatures and/or higher pressures
the gas hydrate is stable.

HYDRATE STABILITY Cont

Gas Hydrate Occurrence Zone and Stability

Zone

NATURAL GAS HYDRATES

Gas hydrates form when water and natural gas
combine at low temperatures and high pressures.
Gas hydrates are cage-like structures of water
molecules.
surrounding molecules of gas, primarily
methane. Methane is the principal component of
natural gas.
They are members of a highly varied class of
substances called clathrates.

NATURAL GAS HYDRATES cont..

Natural gas hydrate is a potentially vast source
of hydrocarbon energy that is currently
unexploited.
They are seen in the regions of permafrost and in
marine subseafloor sediments.
They substances composed of water, methane,
and usually a small amount of other gases.
It has been estimated that a maximum of 270
million trillion cubic feet of natural gas could
theoretically exist in hydrate deposits

NATURAL GAS HYDRATES cont..

It is highly inflammable and are called
"Fiery ice" or Ice that burns

STRUCTURE

Fig: 2 structure of gas

hydrate

PRODUCTION METHODS

There are three mainly used production methods

are

1. DEPRUSSURIZATION.
2. THERMAL STIMULATION
3. CHEMICAL INHIBITION

PRODUCTION METHODS Cotd..

1.
.

DEPRUSSURIZATION.
Its objective is to lower the pressure in the freegas zone immediately beneath the hydrate
stability zone, causing the hydrate at the base of
the hydrate stability zone to decompose and the
freed gas to move toward a wellbore.

PRODUCTION METHODS Cotd..

2. THERMAL STIMULATION.

which a source of heat provided directly in the form

of injected steam or hot water or another heated
liquid, or indirectly via electric or sonic means.

It is applied to the hydrate stability zone to raise its

temperature, causing the hydrate to decompose.

The direct approach could be accomplished in either

of two modes: a frontal sweep similar to the steam
floods that are routinely used to produce heavy oil, or
by pumping hot liquid through a vertical fracture
between an injection well and a production well.

PRODUCTION METHODS Cotd..

3. CHEMICAL INHIBITION.

It is similar in concept to the chemical means

presently used to inhibit the formation of water
ice.
This method seeks to displace the natural gas
hydrate equilibrium condition beyond the
hydrate stability zones thermodynamic
conditions through injection of a liquid inhibitor
chemical adjacent to the hydrate.

PRODUCTION METHODS Cotd..

Fig:3 Schematic of proposed gas hydrate

production methods: (a) thermal injection (b)
depressurization, and (c) inhibitor or other
additive.

TRANSPORTATION
There are at least three ways to transport the
gas ashore;
by conventional pipeline;
by converting the gas hydrates to liquid middle
distillates via the newly-improved FischerTropsch process and loading it onto a
conventional tanker or barge; or
by reconverting the gas into solid hydrate and
shipping it ashore in a close-to-conventional ship
or barge

SAFETY &ENVIRONMENTAL
CONCERNS
Normal drilling can generate enough downhole
heat to decompose surrounding hydrates,
possibly resulting in loss of the well.
While large volumes of oceanic natural gas
hydrate deposits are known to have decomposed
in the past absent human influence.
It is clear that the release of large quantities of
methane into the atmosphere, can cause
increase its greenhouse capability since methane
is 21 times more potent a greenhouse gas than is
CO2.

APPLICATIONS
used

in power generation.
urea fertilizer production.
room heating& cooking .

CHALLENGES
During drilling wells as part of the development
of gas hydrate will produce significant amount of
cuttings containing methane gas.
CO2 produced when methane is burned as a fuel.
methane itself is a greenhouse gas with 21 times
than of carbon dioxide.
High cost for long pipe lines across unstable
continental slops.

COMPARISONS
The natural gas is found is gaseous state, while
gas hydrate is a solid .
When natural gas is burned, it emits CO2, leads
to global warming. But the amount released is
less than that of coal or oil is burned.
Oil and coal, emit air pollutants like SO2 &
nitrogen oxides. But in natural gas no such
emissions.
Methane gas is the cleanest fuel, because it
emits minimum residue in the environment.

CONCLUSION

exploration and quantification of gas- hydrates are

very much required for evaluating the resource
potential and hazard assessment.
Proper exploitation of methane at one hand can meet
the ever-increasing demand of energy and on the
other hand will reduce the environmental and
submarine geo- hazard.
There are several technical problems in extracting
and producing gas from gas-hydrates at this moment.
The recoverability of gas from gas hydrate may be
evaluated if the hydrate occurs in unfrozen sandy
sediments

REFERENCES

Sain, K., ZeIt, C.A., and Reddy,P.R., 2002.Imaging of subvolcanic

Mesozoics using traveltime inversion of wide-angle seismic data in
the Saurastra peninsula of India, Geophysical Journal
International, 150,
Global Resource Potential of Gas Hydrate ANew Calculation By
Arthur H. Johnson (Hydrate Energy International) ,vol 11,issue
2,methane hydrate news letter .
The 2nd South Asain Geoscience Conference and
Exhibition,GEOIndia2011, 12-14th Jan,2011,Gearter Noida,New
Delhi,India ,Asit Kumar Samadder, Petrophysist, ONGC , Mumbai,India
Exploration of Gas Hydrate and the present global scenario.
Gas Hydrates Resource Potential of South Asia, Published by SAARC
Energy Centre Plot No. 18, Street No. 6, Sector - H9/1 Islamabad,
Pakistan ,Mr .m .jamaluddin, Mr .malcolm v. lall.
Alternative energy sources: Methane hydrates in from the cold By
Michael Richardson For the Straits Times, 12 April 2010.

THANK YOU