Research and application of thermal insulation effect of natural gas hydrate freezing corer based on the wireline-coring principle

Natural gas hydrate(NGH)holds great promise as a source of clean energy.It is critical for acquiring the largest possible in situ NGH core for NGH eigen features and resource assessment.However,the existing NGH coring technology has limitations,such as temperature increments,limited coring diameters,low coring rates,and complex coring structures.Therefore,this study designs and proposes an NGH freezing coring(NGHFC)method and verifies the freezing and coring capacities of the NGHFC method in laboratories and experimental wells.Results suggest that NGHFC shows good freezing and heat-retention properties.A freezing core heat transfer model is developed.According to the actual air temperature and operating time,the optimum initial temperature of the cold source can be determined using this model.The average coring rate of NGHFC can reach 77.86%.The research results will provide a new idea of coring gas hydrates.

Hollow glass microspheres/silicone rubber composite materials toward materials for high performance deep in-situ temperaturepreserved coring

Deep petroleum resources are stored under high temperature and pressure conditions,with the temperature having a significant influence on the properties of rocks.Deep in-situ temperature-preserved coring(ITP-coring)devices were developed to assess deep petroleum reserves accurately.Herein,hollow glass microspheres(HGMs)/silicone rubber(SR)composites that exhibit excellent thermal insulation properties were prepared as thermal insulation materials for deep ITP-coring devices.The mechanism and process of heat transfer in the composites were explored,as well as their other properties.The results show that the HGMs exhibit good compatibility with the SR matrix.When the volume fraction of the HGMs is increased to 50%,the density of the HGMs/SR composites is reduced from 0.97 to 0.56 g/cm^(3).The HGMs filler introduces large voids into the composites,reducing their thermal conductivity to 0.11 W/m·K.The addition of HGMs into the composites further enhances the thermal stability of the SR,wherein the higher the HGMs filler content,the better the thermal stability of the composites.HGMs significantly enhance the mechanical strength of the SR.HGMs increase the compressive strength of the composites by 828%and the tensile strength by 164%.Overall,HGMs improve the thermal insulation,pressure resistance,and thermal stability of HGMs/SR composites.