Experimental study on solid particle migration and production behaviors during marine natural gas hydrate dissociation by depressurization

Sand production is one of the main obstacles restricting gas extraction efficiency and safety from marine natural gas hydrate(NGH)reservoirs.Particle migration within the NGH reservoir dominates sand production behaviors,while their relationships were rarely reported,severely constrains quantitative evaluation of sand production risks.This paper reports the optical observations of solid particle migration and production from micrometer to mesoscopic scales conditioned to gravel packing during depressurization-induced NGH dissociation for the first time.Theoretical evolutionary modes of sand migration are established based on experimental observations,and its implications on field NGH are comprehensively discussed.Five particle migration regimes of local borehole failure,continuous collapse,wormhole expansion,extensive slow deformation,and pore-wall fluidization are proved to occur during depressurization.The types of particle migration regimes and their transmission modes during depressurization are predominantly determined by initial hydrate saturation.In contrast,the depressurization mainly dominates the transmission rate of the particle migration regimes.Furthermore,both the cumulative mass and the medium grain size of the produced sand decrease linearly with increasing initial methane hydrate(MH)saturation.Discontinuous gas bubble emission,expansion,and explosion during MH dissociation delay sand migration into the wellbore.At the same time,continuous water flow is a requirement for sand production during hydrate dissociation by depressurization.The experiments enlighten us that a constitutive model that can illustrate visible particle migration regimes and their transmission modes is urgently needed to bridge numerical simulation and field applications.Optimizing wellbore layout positions or special reservoir treatment shall be important for mitigating sand production tendency during NGH exploitation.

Dynamic Simulation of Shear-induced Particle Migration in a Two-dimensional Circular Couette Device

The shear-induced migration of neutrally-buoyant non-colloidal circular particles in a two-dimensional circular Couette flow is investigated numerically with a distributed Lagrange multiplier based fictitious domain method.The effects of inertia and volume fraction on the particle migration are examined.The results indicate that inertia has a negative effect on the particle migration.In consistence with the experimental observations,the rapid migration of particles near the inner cylinder at the early stage is observed in the simulation,which is believed to be related to the chain-like clustering of particles.The migration of circular particles in a plane Poiseuille flow is also examined in order to further confirm the effect of such clustering on the particle migration at early stage.There is tendency for the particles in the vicinity of outer cylinder in the Couette device to pack into concentric rings at late stage in case of high particle concentration.

High-gradient magnetic field-controlled migration of solutes and particles and their effects on solidification microstructure:A review

We present a review of the principal developments in the evolution and synergism of solute and particle migration in a liquid melt in high-gradient magnetic fields and we also describe their effects on the solidification microstructure of alloys.Diverse areas relevant to various aspects of theory and applications of high-gradient magnetic field-controlled migration of solutes and particles are surveyed.They include introduction,high-gradient magnetic field effects,migration behavior of solute and particles in high-gradient magnetic fields,microstructure evolution induced by high-gradient magnetic fieldcontrolled migrations of solute and particles,and properties of materials modified by high-gradient magnetic field-tailored microstructure.Selected examples of binary and multiphase alloy systems are presented and examined,with the main focus on the correlation between the high-gradient magnetic field-modified migration and the related solidification microstructure evolution.Particular attention is given to the mechanisms responsible for the microstructure evolution induced by highgradient magnetic fields.

Experimental study on the moving characteristics of fine grains in wide grading unconsolidated soil under heavy rainfall

The initiation mechanism of debris flow is regarded as the key step in understanding the debrisflow processes of occurrence, development and damage. Moreover, migration, accumulation and blocking effects of fine particles in soil will lead to soil failure and then develop into debris flow. Based on this hypothesis and considering the three factors of slope gradient, rainfall duration and rainfall intensity, 16 flume experiments were designed using the method of orthogonal design and completed in a laboratory. Particle composition changes in slope toe, volumetric water content, fine particle movement characteristics and soil failure mechanism were analyzed and understood as follows: the soil has complex, random and unstable structures, which causes remarkable pore characteristics of poor connectivity, non-uniformity and easy variation. The major factors that influence fine particle migration are rainfall intensity and slope. Rainfall intensity dominates particle movement, whereby high intensity rainfall induces a large number of mass movement and sharp fluctuation, causing more fine particles to accumulate at the steep slope toe. The slope toe plays an important role in water collection and fine particleaccumulation. Both fine particle migration and coarse particle movement appears similar fluctuation. Fine particle migration is interrupted in unconnected pores, causing pore blockage and fine particle accumulation, which then leads to the formation of a weak layer and further soil failure or collapses. Fine particle movement also causes debris flow formation in two ways: movement on the soil surface and migration inside the soil. The results verify the hypothesis that the function of fine particle migration in soil failure process is conducive for further understanding the formation mechanism of soil failure and debris flow initiation.

Formation blockage risk analysis of geothermal water reinjection:Rock property analysis,pumping and reinjection tests,and long-term reinjection prediction

The blockage induced by particle migration and deposition is one of the main reasons for the decrease of reinjection capacity in the porous geothermal reservoir with a low and medium temperature.In this paper,a new drilled geothermal well in Xining basin China is taken as an example to investigate the formation blockage risk due to the movable clay and sand particles in pores.The physical properties of the reservoir rocks were analyzed,a series of pumping and reinjection tests were conducted,and the longterm reinjection performance of the well was predicted by numerical simulation based on the test fitting.The results show that the geothermal reservoir rocks are argillaceous and weakly cemented sandstones with a content of movable clay and sand particles up to 0.18–23.42 wt.%.The well presented a high productivity of 935–2186 m3?d-1 at a pressure difference of 0.7–1.62 MPa in the pumping tests associated with a large amount of clay and sand particles produced out,while in the reinjection test,only a low injectivity of 240–480 m3?d-1 was observed at an injection pressure of 0.2–0.6 MPa with the clay and sand particles near the wellbore move into deep.According to the prediction,under conditions of a blockage risk,the injectivity of the well will start to decline after 100 days of injection,and in the third year,it will decrease by 59.00%–77.09%.The influence of invasion of pretreated suspended particles and scale particles can be neglected.Under conditions of a high blockage risk,the injectivity of the well will decrease significantly in the first 20–30 days,with a decline of 75.39%–78.96%.Generally,the higher the injection pressure or rate,the greater the decrease in injectivity of the well caused by particle blockage.Pump lifting is an effective measure to remove the well blockage which can be used regularly.

Mud pumping in high‑speed railway:in‑situ soil core test and full‑scale model testing

Mud pumping induced by moving train loads on rainwater-intruded roadbed causes intensive track vibrations and threatens safety of high-speed trains.In this paper,a vehicle–track–subgrade finite element model was established to analyze the dynamic responses of a ballastless track,and results showed that the concrete base and roadbed were detached because of the whipping effect arising from the rainwater intrusion channel.An in-situ soil core test showed that the intruded rainwater accumulated in roadbed to form standing water and saturated the roadbed.The flapping action of the concrete base caused by the whipping effect led to mud formation mixed with fine particles and rainwater,which migrated upward under the pore-water pressure(PWP)gradient.Mud pumping resulted from continuous particle migration in the saturated roadbed under moving train loads:under normal roadbed condition,coarse and fine particles were uniformly distributed in the roadbed;in early period of mud pumping,fine particles migrated downward to bottom of the roadbed because of the rainwater infiltration flow;in middle stage of mud pumping,fine particles migrated upward and gathered at the roadbed surface under PWP gradient;in later period of mud pumping,fine particles were entrained and removed with the dissipation of excess PWP.Moreover,a full-scale physical model was established to reproduce mud pumping,and polyurethane injection remediation against mud pumping was validated on this physical model.The remediation method was applied to an in-situ mud pumping.The deviation of the vertical track profile reduced remarkably and remained at a low level within half a year,showing a good long-term service performance of the polyurethane remediated roadbed.

Particles migration behavior during laser keyhole welding of ZL101/TiB_2 composites

Particle redistribution occurred with the flow of pool fluid in laser welding aluminum composites. In order to investigate particle migration behavior, a numerical model was established on laser welding of ZL101-TiB2 composite. TiB2 migration coupling with fluid was realized. The volume-of-fluid （VOF） method was employed to track free fluid surfaces. The travel heat source was realized utilizing the workpiece mo- tion in place of heat source motion, which made the heat load stable. Melting and evaporation enthalpy, recoil force, surface tension and buoyancy were considered in this model. Through the calculation it showed that the simulated weld cross section shape and particle distribution were in good agreement with experimental results.