A review of methane leakage from abandoned oil and gas wells:A case study in Lubbock,Texas,within the Permian Basin

In the pursuit of global net zero carbon emissions and climate change mitigation,ongoing research into sustainable energy sources and emission control is paramount.This review examines methane leakage from abandoned oil and gas(AOG)wells,focusing particularly on Lubbock,a geographic area situated within the larger region known as the Permian Basin in West Texas,United States.The objective is to assess the extent and environmental implications of methane leakage from these wells.The analysis integrates pertinent literature,governmental and industry data,and prior Lubbock reports.Factors affecting methane leakage,including well integrity,geological characteristics,and human activities,are explored.Our research estimates 1781 drilled wells in Lubbock,forming a foundation for targeted assessments and monitoring due to historical drilling trends.The hierarchy of well statuses in Lubbock highlights the prevalence of“active oil wells,”trailed by“plugged and abandoned oil wells”and“inactive oil wells.”Methane leakage potential aligns with these well types,underscoring the importance of strategic monitoring and mitigation.The analysis notes a zenith in“drilled and completed”wells during 1980-1990.While our study's case analysis and literature review reiterate the critical significance of assessing and mitigating methane emissions from AOG wells,it's important to clarify that the research does not directly provide methane leakage data.Instead,it contextualizes the issue's magnitude and emphasizes the well type and status analysis's role in targeted mitigation efforts.In summary,our research deepens our understanding of methane leakage,aiding informed decision-making and policy formulation for environmental preservation.By clarifying well type implications and historical drilling patterns,we aim to contribute to effective strategies in mitigating methane emissions from AOG wells.

Investigation of oxy-fuel combustion for methane and acid gas in a diffusion flame

Co-combustion of methane(CH4)and acid gas(AG)is required to sustain the temperature in Claus reaction furnace.In this study,oxy-fuel combustion of methane and acid gas has been experimentally studied in a diffusion flame.Three equivalence ratios(ER=1.0,1.5,2.0)and CH_(4)-addition ratios(CH_(4)/AG=0.3,0.5,0.7)were examined and the flame was interpreted by analyzing the distributions of the temperature and species concentration along central axial.CH_(4)-AG diffusion flame could be classified into three sections namely initial reaction,oxidation and complex reaction sections.Competitive oxidation of CH_(4)and H_(2)S was noted in the first section wherein H_(2)S was preferred and both were mainly proceeding decomposition and partial oxidation.SO_(2)was formed at oxidation section together with obvious presence of H2 and CO.However,H2 and CO were inclined to be sustained under fuel rich condition in the complex reaction section.Reducing ER and increasing CH4/AG contributed to higher temperature,H_(2)S and CH_(4)oxidation and CO_(2)reactivity.Hence a growing trend for CH_(4)and AG to convert into H_(2),CO and SO_(2)could be witnessed.And this factor enhanced the generation of CS2 and COS in the flame inner core by interactions of CH4 and CO_(2)with sulfur species.COS was formed through the interactions of CO and CO_(2)with sulfur species.The CS_(2)production directly relied on reaction of CH_(4)with sulfur species.The concentration of COS was greater than CS_(2)since CS_(2)was probably inhibited due to the presence of H_(2).COS and CS_(2)could be consumed by further oxidation or other complex reactions.

Investigations of methane adsorption characteristics on marine-continental transitional shales and gas storage capacity models considering pore evolution

Methane adsorption is a critical assessment of the gas storage capacity(GSC)of shales with geological conditions.Although the related research of marine shales has been well-illustrated,the methane adsorption of marine-continental transitional(MCT)shales is still ambiguous.In this study,a method of combining experimental data with analytical models was used to investigate the methane adsorption characteristics and GSC of MCT shales collected from the Qinshui Basin,China.The Ono-Kondo model was used to fit the adsorption data to obtain the adsorption parameters.Subsequently,the geological model of GSC based on pore evolution was constructed using a representative shale sample with a total organic carbon(TOC)content of 1.71%,and the effects of reservoir pressure coefficient and water saturation on GSC were explored.In experimental results,compared to the composition of the MCT shale,the pore structure dominates the methane adsorption,and meanwhile,the maturity mainly governs the pore structure.Besides,maturity in the middle-eastern region of the Qinshui Basin shows a strong positive correlation with burial depth.The two parameters,micropore pore volume and non-micropore surface area,induce a good fit for the adsorption capacity data of the shale.In simulation results,the depth,pressure coefficient,and water saturation of the shale all affect the GSC.It demonstrates a promising shale gas potential of the MCT shale in a deeper block,especially with low water saturation.Specifically,the economic feasibility of shale gas could be a major consideration for the shale with a depth of<800 m and/or water saturation>60%in the Yushe-Wuxiang area.This study provides a valuable reference for the reservoir evaluation and favorable block search of MCT shale gas.

A Comprehensive Appraisal on the Characteristics of Coal-Bed Methane Reservoir in Turpan-Hami Basin

The rich coal-bed methane resources in the Turpan-Hami Basin are mainly located in the Shisanjianfang,Hami,Shanshan,Sha'erhu,Kekeya,Kerjian,Aidinghu inclines and the Dananhu coal-bed methane reservoirs. The big-ger coal-bed reservoirs are sitting at a depth of less than 1500 m. The coalbed methane generation,storage and confin-ing conditions of the Turpan-Hami basin can be indicated by eight key parameters. They are coal-bed thickness,coal rank,missing period,permeability,Langmuir volume,rock covering ability,structural confinement and hydrodynamic sealing environment. These parameters constitute a comprehensive appraisal index system of the coal-bed methane res-ervoir characteristics of the Turpan-Hami basin. In these parameters,the missing period of coal-bed methane is indi-cated by a stratum missing intensity factor. It reflects the relative exposure period of coal series. The results of a fuzzy comprehensive judgment showed that the Shisanjianfang coal-bed methane reservoir has the best prospects for exploita-tion and the Sha'erhu,Shanshan,Hami coal-bed methane reservoirs are next in line.

Application of Seismic Anisotropy Caused by Fissures in Coal Seams to the Detection of Coal-bed Methane Reservoirs

Coal-bed methane is accumulated in micro-fissures and cracks in coal seams. The coal seam is the source terrace and reservoir bed of the coal-bed methane (Qian et al., 1996). Anisotropy of coal seams is caused by the existence of fissures. Based on the theory of S wave splitting: an S wave will be divided into two S waves with nearly orthogonal polarization directions when passing through anisotropic media, i.e. the fast S wave with its direction of propagation parallel to that of the fissure and slow S wave with the direction of propagation perpendicular to that of the fissure.

A Pilot-scale Demonstration of Reverse Osmosis Unit for Treatment of Coal-bed Methane Co-produced Water and Its Modeling

This study presents the first demonstration project in China for treatment of coal-bed methane(CBM) co-produced water and recycling.The work aims to provide a research and innovation base for solving the pollution problem of CBM extraction water.The reverse osmosis(RO) unit is applied to the treatment of CBM co-produced water.The results indicate that system operation is stable,the removal efficiency of the total dissolved solids(TDS) is as high as 97.98%,and Fe,Mn,and F-are almost completely removed.There is no suspended solids(SS) detected in the treated water.Furthermore,a model for the RO membrane separation process is developed to describe the quantitative relationship between key physical quantities-membrane length,flow velocity,salt concentration,driving pressure and water recovery rate,and the water recovery restriction equation based on mass balance is developed.This model provides a theoretical support for the RO system design and optimization.The TDS in the CBM co-produced water are removed to meet the "drinking water standards" and "groundwater quality standards" of China and can be used as drinking water,irrigation water,and livestock watering.In addition,the cost for treatment of CBM co-produced water is assessed,and the RO technology is an efficient and cost-effective treatment method to remove pollutants.

Coal-Bed Methane Resource of Mesozoic Basins in Jiamusi Landmass

As a new-replacement of energy resource, coal bed methane is the important gas resource with great strategic significance. There are several number of Mesozoic coal-bearing basins in Jiamusi landmass, eastern Heilongjiang Province. Theresult of the resource assessment revealed that the total resource less than 1 500 m,s depth in the area is about 2 100×108m3. It shows that Jiamusi landmass has great potential of coal-bed gas and is one of the most prospecting districts for developing coal-bed gas in CBM-province Northeast China.

The experiment study on slippage effect of the coal-bed methane transfusion

When the gas flow in the compact porous medium at low speed,it has slippage effect which is caused by the gas molecular collision whit the solidskeleton.Using the gas transfusion slippage effect at researching the coal bed transfusion rule,established the transfusion mathematical model of the coal bed which had considered the slippage effect. Observing the influence of the different toencircle presses,the different hole press and the different actual stress to the coal bed by using the three-axles permeameter.Thus sum- marized the transfusion rule of the coal bed.The experiment indicates that the bigger of the surrounding pressure,the more obvious of the slippage effect.At the same condition of axial pressure and the surrounding pressure,with the increase of the hole pressure,the coal permeability became bigger and then smaller.The coal body effective tress and the permeability curve nearly also has the same change tendency.Thus we can draws the conclusion that the transfusion of the gas in the coal bed generally has the slippage effect.

The Relationship of Sulfate-methane Interface,the Methane Flux and the Underlying Gas Hydrate

The sulfate-methane interface is an important biogeochemical identification interface for the areas with high methane flux and containing gas hydrate. Above the sulfate-methane interface, the sulfate concentration in the sediment is consumed progressively for the decomposition of the organic matter and anaerobic methane oxidation. Below the sulfate-methane interface, the methane concentration increases continuously with the depth. Based on the variation characters of the sulfate and methane concentration around the sulfate-methane interface, it is feasible to estimate the intensity of the methane flux, and thereafter to infer the possible occurrence of gas hydrate. The geochemical data of the pore water taken from the northern slope of the South China Sea show the sulfate-methane interface is relatively shallow, which indicates that this area has the high methane flux. It is considered that the high methane flux is most probably caused by the occurrence of underlying gas hydrate in the northern slope of the South China Sea.

CeO_2 as the Oxygen Carrier for Partial Oxidation of Methane to Synthesis Gas in Molten Salts: Thermodynamic Analysis and Experimental Investigation

A new technique -- the direct partial oxidation of methane to synthesis gas using lattice oxygen in molten salts medium has been introduced. Using CeO2 as the oxygen carrier, thermodynamic data were calculated in the reaction process, and the results indicated that direct partial oxidation of methane to synthesis gas using lattice oxygen of cerium oxide is feasible in theory. In a stainless steel reactor, the effects of temperature and varying amounts of γ-Al2O3 supported CeO2 on cn4 conversion, H2 and CO selectivity, were investigated, respectively. The results show that 10% CeO2/γ-Al2O3 has the maximal reaction activity at a temperature of 865 ℃ and above, the H2/CO ratio in the gas that has been produced reaches 2 and the CH4 conversion, H2 and CO selectivity reached the following percentages： i.e. 61%, 89%, and 91% at 870 ℃, respectively. In addition, increase of reaction temperature is favorable for the partial oxidation of methane.

Preventing Coal and Gas Outburst Using Methane Hydration

According to the characteristics of the methane hydrate condensing and accumulating methane, authors put forward a new technique thought way to prevent the accident of coal and gas outburst by urging the methane in the coal seams to form hydrate. The paper analyzes the feasibility of forming the methane hydrate in the coal seam from the several sides, such as, temperature,pressure, and gas components, and the primary trial results indicate the problems should be settled before the industrialization appliance realized.

Study on the mechanism of interaction for coal and methane gas

Although two moulds for methane gas in coal with the free state and adsorption state have been popularly considered, the derivation between the real methane gas state equation in coal and the perfect gas state equation has been fuzzily considered and the mechanism of interaction for coal aromatics and methane gas molecules has not been understood. Then these problems have been discussed in this paper applied the principle of statistical thermo mechanics and quantum chemistry as well as based on the numerical calculating of experiential data in quantum chemistry. Therefore, it is revealed by research results that the experience state equation for real methane gas in coal, which is put forward in this paper, is closer to actual situation and the interaction process for methane gas adsorption on the surface of coal aromatics can be formulated by Morse potential function. Furthermore it is most stable through this research that the structural mould for methane gas molecule adsorption on the surface of coal nuclear with one gas molecule on top of another aromatics in regular triangle cone has been understood, and it is a physical adsorption for methane gas adsorption with single layer molecule on the surface of coal nuclear.

Study of effective parameters for enhancement of methane gas production from natural gas hydrate reservoirs

Natural gas hydrate resources have become the major source of energy in the second half of 21st century.Gas production and fluid behavior in natural gas hydrate reservoirs are different from conventional ones.There are three major methods for methane decomposition such as depressurization,thermal stimulation and inhibitor injection.However,CO2 substitution can also be introduced as an alternative method to inject in sediments containing gas hydrate.All these methods tend to imbalance equilibrium condition via temperature and pressure variation in order to fulfill hydrate decomposition process.This study aims to simulate depressurization method for gas production from a hydrate gas bearing layer.Hence,a sensitivity analysis of reservoir parameters includes porosity,permeability,hydrate saturation,hydrate thickness layer;pressure and temperature of single well hydrate model were investigated to determine how these parameters impact on gas production.Results show that depressurization is an efficient method for gas production from hydrate bearing sediments.Through sensitivity analysis,it has been concluded that if properties of a hydrate layer such as porosity and permeability become greater,methane production will be increased significantly.Moreover,results investigate that the rate of hydrate dissociate is strongly dependent on pressure reduction,and it has a reverse relationship with bottomhole pressure and reservoir temperature.

Daily Variation of Natural Emission of Methane to the Atmosphere and Source Identification in the Luntai Fault Region of the Yakela Condensed Oil/Gas Field in the Tarim Basin,Xinjiang,China

The static flux chamber method was applied to study natural emissions of methane to the atmosphere in the Luntai fault region of Yakela Condensed Oil/Gas Field in the Tarim Basin, Xinjiang Municipality, northwestern China. Using an online method, which couples together a gas chromatography/high-temperature conversion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry （GC/C/MS）, 13^C/12^C ratios of methane in flux chambers were measured and showed that methane gases are liable to migrate from deep oil/gas reservoirs to the surface through fault regions and that a part of the migrated methane, which remains unoxidized can be emitted into the atmosphere. Methane emission rates were found to be highest in the mornings, lowest in the afternoons and then increase gradually in the evenings. Methane emission rates varied dramatically in different locations in the fault region. The highest methane emission rate was 10.96 mg/m^2·d, the lowest 4.38 mg/m^2, and the average 7.55 mg/ m^2·d. The 13^C/12^C ratios of the methane in the flux chambers became heavier as the enclosed methane concentrations increased gradually, which reveals that methane released from the fault region might come from thermogenic methane of the deep condensed oil/gas reservoir.

Methane Oxidation to Synthesis Gas Using Lattice Oxygen of La_(1-x)Sr_xMO_(3-λ)(M =Fe,Mn) Perovskite Oxides Instead of Molecular Oxygen

In this paper, the partial oxidation of methane to synthesis gas using lattice oxygen of La1- SrxMO3-λ (M=Fe, x Mn) perovskite oxides instead of molecular oxygen was investigated. The redox circulation between 11% O2/Ar flow and 11% CH4/He flow at 900℃ shows that methane can be oxidized to CO and H2 with a selectivity of over 90.7% using the lattice oxygen of La1- SrxFeO3-λ (x≤0.2) perovskite oxides in an appropriate reaction condition, while the lost lattice x oxygen can be supplemented by air re-oxidation. It is viable for the lattice oxygen of La1- SrxFeO3-λ (x≤0.2) perovskite x oxides instead of molecular oxygen to react with methane to synthesis gas in the redox mode.

Effect of Methane Gas on Acoustic Characteristics of Hydrate-Bearing Sediment–Model Analysis and Experimental Verification

Gas leakage is an important consideration in natural systems that experience gas hydrate accumulation.A number of velocity models have been created to study hydrate-bearing sediments,including the BGTL theory,the weighted equation,the Wood equation,the K-T equation,and the effective medium theory.In previous work,we regarded water as the pore fluid,which meant its density and bulk modulus values were those of water.This approach ignores the presence of gas,which results in a biased calculation of the pore fluid's bulk modulus and density.To take into account the effect of gas on the elastic wave velocity,it is necessary to recalculate the bulk modulus and density of an equivalent medium.Thus,a high-pressure reactor device for simulating leakage systems was developed to establish the relationship between wave velocity and hydrate saturation in methane-flux mode.A comparison of the values calculated by the velocity model with the experimental data obtained in this study indicates that the effective medium theory(EMT,which considers gas effects)is more applicable than other models.For hydrate saturations of 10%–30%,the result ranges between EMT-B(homogenous gas distribution)and EMT-B(patchy gas distribution).For hydrate saturations of 30%–60%,the results are similar to those of the EMT-B(homogenous gas distribution)mode,whereas hydrate saturations of 60%–70%yield results similar to those of the EMT-A mode.For hydrate saturations greater than 80%,the experimental results are similar to those of the EMT-B mode.These results have significance for hydrate exploitation in the South China Sea.

Investigation on Gas Storage in Methane Hydrate

The effect of additives (anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), nonionic surfactant alkyl polysaccharide glycoside (APG), and liquid hydrocarbon cyclopentane (CP)) on hydrate induction time and formation rate, and storage capacity was studied in this work. Micelle surfactant solutions were found to reduce hydrate induction time, increase methane hydrate formation rate and improve methane storage capacity in hydrates. In the presence of surfactant, hydrate could form quickly in a quiescent system and the energy costs of hydrate formation were reduced. The critical micelle concentrations of SDS and APG water solutions were found to be 300×10-6 and 500×10-6 for methane hydrate formation system respectively. The effect of anionic surfactant (SDS) on methane storage in hydrates is more pronounced compared to a nonionic surfactant (APG). CP also reduced hydrate induction time and improved hydrate formation rate, but could not improve methane storage in hydrates.

Geological emission of methane from the Yakela condensed oil/gas field in Talimu Basin, Xinjiang, China

A static flux chamber method was applied to study natural emissions of methane into the atmosphere in the Yakela condensed oil/gas field in Talimu Basin, Xinjiang, China. Using an online method, which couples a gas chromatography/high-temperature conversion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/MS) together, the 13C/12C ratios of methane in the flux chambers were measured. The results demonstrated that methane gases were liable to migrate from deep oil/gas reservoir to the surface through microseepage and p...

Methane dehydroaromatization over Mo-modified H-MFI for gas to liquid catalysts

For direct gas to liquid（GTL）,a novel process producing energy sources for methane dehydroaromatization is needed.Supporting MoO3 on H-MFI zeolite shows the high catalytic capacity and a selective activity for dehydroaromatization of methane to benzene at 973 K in a fixed bed reactor.On the other hand,deactivation by coke on the active sites in all the catalysts is formed during the reaction.H2 co-feed suppressed the deactivation,which is probably due to the decrease in coking amount.Mo K-edge X-ray absorption fine structure（XAFS） results showed the formation of dispersed Mo2C species with low crystallinity after dehydroaromatization.Mo LIII-edge XANES（X-ray absorption near-edge structure） indicated the formation of active Mo species including Mo2C and Mo-oxycarbide（MoOxCy）,where the redox state should be independent in the absence/presence of H2.It is concluded that Mo-oxycarbide species act as highly active species,and their stability affected the durable activity in the presence of H2.

Excellent complete conversion activity for methane and CO of Pd/TiO_2-Zr_(0.5)Al_(0.5)O_(1.75) catalyst used in lean-burn natural gas vehicles

Palladium catalysts are supported on TiO2, ZrO2, A12O3, Zro.sAlo.501.75 and TiO2-Zro.sAlo.501.75 prepared by co-precipitation method, re- spectively. Catalytic activities for methane and CO oxidation are evaluated in a gas mixture that simulated the exhaust from lean-burn natural gas vehicles （NGVs）. Pd/TiO2-Zro.sAlo.501.75 performs the best catalytic activity among the tested five catalysts. For CH4, the light-off temperature （Tso） is 254 ℃, and the complete conversion temperature （Tgo） is 280 ℃; for CO, Tso is 84 ℃, and Tgo was 96 ℃. Various techniques, including N2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, H2-temperature-programmed reduction （H2-TPR）, X-ray photoelec- tron spectroscopy （XPS）, and scanning electron microscopy （SEM） are employed to characterize the effect of supports on the physicochemical properties of prepared catalysts. N2 adsorption-desorption and SEM show that TiO2-Zro.5Al0.501.75 expresses uniform nano-particles and large meso-pore diameters of 26 nm. H2-TPR and XRD indicate that PdO is well dispersed on the supports and strongly interacted with each other. The results of XPS show that the electron density around PdO and the proportion of active oxygen on TiO2-Zro.sAl0.501.75 are maxima among the five supports.