Clathrate Reservoir Barrier Formation for Aquifer Pressure Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Class II clathrate reservoirs are difficult to produce hydrocarbons from due to the mobile aquifer maintaining high pressure, which interferes with dissociation, making it challenging to extract hydrocarbons effectively.
Innovation Solution
Drilling a borehole to access the mobile aquifer and injecting materials like cement, epoxies, or guest molecules that form clathrates at higher temperatures/pressures, creating a barrier to impede fluid flow from the aquifer into the clathrate formation, facilitating dissociation and production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stress or pressure
If the mobile aquifer is allowed to remain under the clathrate reservoir, then the reservoir maintains high pressure, but this interferes with dissociation and prevents effective hydrocarbon production
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the mobile aquifer from its position underlying the clathrate reservoir by injecting barrier materials (cement, epoxies, or guest molecules) that form an impermeable seal. This separation removes the aquifer's interfering influence while preserving the clathrate reservoir's pressure for effective hydrocarbon production.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces barrier materials as intermediary substances between the clathrate reservoir and the mobile aquifer. These materials (cement, epoxies, or guest molecules forming clathrates) act as mediators that block fluid communication, allowing the clathrate reservoir to maintain pressure without direct aquifer interference.
2Productivity
If barrier materials are injected into the mobile aquifer to form an impermeable layer, then fluid flow from the aquifer is impeded, but the complexity of the production process increases
Solution Approach 1:
The barrier materials injected into the aquifer exhibit self-service properties where they automatically spread radially through pore spaces and congregate at the interface with the clathrate reservoir. This self-organizing behavior forms the necessary barrier without requiring complex external control systems or additional infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes in the barrier materials, specifically their transition from liquid or gas states to solid clathrate structures at higher temperatures and pressures. This phase change enables the materials to form stable impermeable barriers under the reservoir conditions, simplifying the overall process control.
3Productivity
If the clathrate reservoir is converted to a Class III type by blocking aquifer contact, then dissociation is facilitated, but the initial intervention requires significant resource input
Solution Approach 1:
The patent exploits the porous structure of the aquifer and reservoir formations to enable efficient distribution of barrier materials. By injecting materials into the porous aquifer, they naturally spread through pore spaces and congregate at the interface, reducing the total quantity needed compared to alternative methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrier materials undergo phase transitions (liquid to solid, or gas to clathrate) under the reservoir's temperature and pressure conditions. This phase change enables the materials to form stable, long-lasting barriers with minimal material quantity, as the phase transition itself drives the materials to congregate where needed.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method effectively converts Class II reservoirs into Class III-like reservoirs, improving producibility by reducing aquifer pressure and allowing for sustained hydrocarbon production.
Implementation Method 1
injecting a material into the mobile aquifer such that the material passes through pore spaces and forms a barrier underlying the clathrate formation and substantially impeding fluid flow from the mobile aquifer into contact with the clathrate formation
Implementation Method 2
These materials will eventually change physical states from liquids to solids and thus becoming relatively impermeable barriers between the overlying clathrate reservoir and underlying mobile aquifer reservoir
Implementation Method 3
injecting or placing one or more guest molecules for example but not limited to ethane, propane, iso-Butane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, i.e., guest molecules that will come into contact with the underlying mobile aquifer reservoir and form clathrates of a type that can exist at higher temperatures and/or lower pressures
Implementation Method 4
dissociation (separation of the clathrate into water and gas(ses) commences
Data Source
AI summary
Clathrate reservoirs of Class II are modified in order to improve the ability to produce hydrocarbons from them. Specifically a method for improving producibility of subsurface clathrate formation underlain by a mobile aquifer includes drilling a borehole to a depth providing access to the mobile aquifer and injecting a material into the mobile aquifer such that the material passes through pore spaces and forms a barrier underlying the clathrate formation and substantially impeding fluid flow from the mobile aquifer into contact with the clathrate formation.