A Comprehensive Review on CO2/N2 Mixture Injection for Methane Gas Recovery in Hydrate Reservoirs

Abstract

Clathrate hydrates are non-stoichiometric compounds of water and gas molecules coexisting at relatively low temperatures and high pressures. The gas molecules are trapped in cage-like structures of the water molecules by hydrogen bonds. There are several hydrate deposits in permafrost and oceanic sediments with an enormous amount of energy. The energy content of methane in hydrate reservoirs is considered to be up to 50 times that of conventional petroleum resources, with about 2,500 to 20,000 trillion m3 of methane gas. More than 220 hydrate deposits in permafrost and oceanic sediments have been identified to date. The exploration and production of these deposits to recover the trapped methane gas could overcome the world energy challenges and create a sustainable energy future. Furthermore, global warming is a major issue facing the world at large and it is caused by greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide. As a result, researchers and organizations have proposed various methods of reducing the emission of carbon dioxide gas. One of the proposed methods is the geological storage of carbon dioxide in depleted oil and gas reservoirs, oceanic sediments, deep saline aquifers, and depleted hydrate deposits. Studies have shown that there is the possibility of methane gas production and carbon dioxide storage in hydrate reservoirs using the injection of carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas mixture. However, the conventional hydrocarbon production methods cannot be used for the hydrate reservoirs due to the nature of these reservoirs. In addition, thermal stimulation and depressurization are not effective methods for methane gas production and carbon sequestration in hydrate-bearing sediments. Therefore, the gas replacement method for methane production and carbon dioxide storage in clathrate hydrate is investigated in this paper. The research studies (experiments, modeling/simulation, and field tests) on CO2/N2 gas mixture injection for the optimization of methane gas recovery in hydrate reservoirs are reviewed. It was discovered that the injection of the gas mixture enhanced the recovery process by replacing methane gas in the small and large cages of the hydrate. Also, the presence of N2 molecules significantly increased fluid injectivity and methane recovery rate. In addition, a significant amount of free water was not released and the hydrate phase was stable during the replacement process. It is an effective method for permanent storage of carbon dioxide in the hydrate layer. However, further research studies on the effects of gas composition, particle size, and gas transport on the replacement process and swapping rate are required.