Microbial Gas in the Mohe Permafrost, Northeast China and its Significance to Gas Hydrate Accumulation in Permafrost across China

The Mohe permafrost in northeast China possesses favorable subsurface ambient temperature, salinity, Eh values and pH levels of groundwater for the formation of microbial gas, and the Mohe Basin contains rich organic matter in the Middle Jurassic dark mudstones. This work conducted gas chromatography and isotope mass spectrometry analyses of nearly 90 core gas samples from the Mk-2 well in the Mohe Basin. The results show that the dryness coefficient(C1/C1–5) of core hydrocarbon gas from approximately 900 m intervals below the surface is larger than 98%, over 70% of the δ13 C values of methane are smaller than-55‰, and almost all δD values of methane are smaller than-250‰, indicative of a microbial origin of the gas from almost 900 m of the upper intervals in the Mohe permafrost. Moreover, the biomarker analyses of 72 mudstone samples from the Mohe area indicate that all of them contain 25-norhopane series compounds, thereby suggesting widely distributed microbial activities in the permafrost. This work has confirmed the prevailing existence of microbial gas in the Mohe area, which may be a potential gas source of gas hydrate formation in the Mohe permafrost. This result is of great significance to gas hydrate accumulation in the permafrost across China.

The influence of multi-metal-veins on fractures propagation investigated by the experiment and simulation

Fracture propagation is affected by multi-metal-veins formed by geological diagenesis in shale during the hydraulic fracturing.However,the influence of multi-metal-veins on fractures propagation remains unclear.To solve the problem,based on the semi-circle bending(SCB)test and the extended finite element(XFEM)theory,the interaction between multi-metal-veins and fractures is investigated.The experimental results reveal that the fractures usually deflect at the upper or lower interfaces between metal veins and rocks(e.g.the specimen S-2),which is different from the propagation behavior of fractures in calcite veins.Meanwhile,the fracture toughness of the specimen S-1 is 24.40%higher than that of the specimen S-2,indicating that the increasing of total thickness of multiple metal veins in-creases the resistance to the fracture vertical propagation.The simulation results show that the increasing of the number,total thickness of veins,the modulus difference between veins and rock,the approach angle and the notch angle all increase the resistance of the fracture passing through metal veins.The maximum deviation distance(Dmax)of the fracture decreases with the number of veins,while thickness combination types of metal veins do not affect Dmax.The reduction of the notch angle leads to the more tortuous fracture propagation path.Finally,we propose a new comprehensive fracture network pattern.Fracture networks are divided into two categories,including orthogonal fracture networks and sub-orthogonal fracture networks,and then divided into six sub-categories further.The research results will provide reference for hydraulic fracturing of shale reservoirs containing multi-metal-veins.

A developed transient gas-liquid-solid flow model with hydrate phase transition for solid fluidization exploitation of marine natural gas hydrate reservoirs

The multiphase flow characteristic is one of the most concerning problems during solid fluidization exploitation of marine natural gas hydrate reservoirs.In this research,a new transient gas-liquid-solid multiphase flow model with hydrate phase transition was developed.Meanwhile,this model considered the coupling relationship among convective heat transfer,hydrate dynamic decomposition,and multi-phase flow.The model can simulate the change of flow pattern from solid-liquid to gas-liquid-solid flow,and describe the distribution character of volume fraction of phase,wellbore temperature and pressure,and hydrate decomposition rate during transportation.The simulation results indicate that the hydrate decomposition region in the wellbore gradually expands,but the hydrate decomposition rate gradually decreases during the solid fluidization exploitation of hydrate.When mining time lasts for 4 h,and the bottom hole pressure decreases by about 0.4 MPa.Increasing NaCl concentration in seawater helps expand hydrate decomposition regions and improves the wellbore hydrate decomposition rate.When the Nacl mass fraction in seawater reaches 15%,it will raise the hydrate decomposition regions to the whole wellbore.In addition,the higher the wellhead backpressure,the lower the decomposition area and decomposition rate of hydrate in the wellbore.When wellhead backpressure reaches 2 MPa,the volume fraction of gas near the wellhead will reduce to about 12%.This work is expected to provide a theoretical basis for the development of marine hydrate reservoirs.

Numerical simulation of rock-breaking and influence laws of dynamic load parameters during axial-torsional coupled impact drilling with a single PDC cutter

Axial and torsional impact drilling technology is used to improve the drilling efficiency of hard rock formation in the deep underground.Still,the corresponding theory is not mature,and there are few correlative research reports on the rock-breaking mechanism of axial and torsional coupled impact drilling tools.Considering the influence of the impact hammer geometry and movement on the dynamic load parameters(i.e.,wavelength,amplitude,frequency,and phase difference),a numerical model that includes a hard formation and single polycrystalline diamond compact cutter was established.The Riedel-Hiermaier-Thoma model,which considers the dynamic damage and strength behavior of rocks,was adopted to analyze the rock damage under axial and torsional impact loads.The numerical simu-lation results were verified by the experimental results.It was found that compared with conventional drilling,the penetration depths of axial,torsional,and axial-torsional coupled impact drilling increased by 31.3%,5.6%,and 34.7%,respectively.Increasing the wavelength and amplitude of the axial impact stress wave improved the penetration depth.When the bit rotation speed remained unchanged,increasing the frequency in the axial and circumferential directions had little effect on the penetration depth.However,as the frequency increased,the cutting surface became increasingly smooth,which reduced the occurrence of bit vibration.When the phase difference between the axial and circumfer-ential stress waves was 25%,the penetration depth significantly increased.In addition,the bit vibration problem can be effectively reduced.Finally,the adjustment of engineering and tool structure parameters is proposed to optimize the efficiency of the axial-torsional coupled impact drilling tool.

Active precursor promoting nucleation/growth of MwW zeolite and controlling its morphology

MWW zeolites is an important catalyst in petrochemical industry.However,the efficient preparation of Mww zeolites still faces challenges,and the origin of influential factors for regulating its structure properties also remains obscure.Herein,we designed a nanoscale amorphous silica-alumina species denoted as active precursor(APS),and adopt the APS in the HMI mixture to synthesize MCM-22 zeolite(APS-MWW)successfully.To reveal the distinctive role of APS in promoting the crystallization of MWW zeolites,two crystal materials(ITQ-1 and MCM-22)and one mother liquor(ML)as seeds to synthesize three types of MWW zeolites.Typically,when adding APS in the synthetic mixture,the HMI amount was reduced to less than a quarter and crystallization time was reduced to 36 h.APS-MWW sample provides a smaller particle size(2-4μm)and thinner stacked layer thickness(5-20 nm).Synchrotron radiation Small Angle X-ray Scattering(SAXS)shows each seed has a different impact on the species'fractal structure and size distribution in the mixture,which is highly related to the nucleation and growth of MWW zeolites.APS shows a large number of 6 membered ring(MR)structure units which play a sig-nificant role in boosting the rapid nucleation and growth of APS-MwW zeolite.Among the synthesized MWW zeolites,the APS-MWW performs the highest ethylbenzene yield in the alkylation reaction of benzene-ethylene,which is attributed to its moderate flake thickness,appropriate texture properties and more external surface acidity.The results will provide a new perspective for producing MwW-types zeolites by using the available and effective active precursor.

Experimental investigation on the cuttings formation process and its relationship with cutting force in single PDC cutter tests

The single polycrystalline diamond compact(PDC)cutter test is widely used to investigate the mecha-nism of rock-breaking.The generated cuttings and cutting force are important indexes reflecting the rock failure process.However,they were treated as two separate parameters in previous publications.In this study,through a series of rock block cutting tests,the relationship between them was investigated to obtain an in-depth understanding of the formation of cuttings.In addition,to validate the standpoints obtained in the aforementioned experiments,rock sheet cutting tests were conducted and the rock failure process was monitored by a high-speed camera frame by frame.The cutting force was recorded with the same sampling rate as the camera.By this design,every sampled point of cutting force can match a picture captured by the camera,which reflects the interaction between the rock and the cutter.The results indicate that the increase in cutting depth results in a transition of rock failure modes.At shallow cutting depth,ductile failure dominates and all the cuttings are produced by the compression of the cutter.The corresponding cutting force fluctuates slightly.However,beyond the critical depth,brittle failure occurs and chunk-like cuttings appear,which leads to a sharp decrease in cutting force.After that,the generation of new surface results in a significant decrease in actual cutting depth,a parameter proposed to reflect the interaction between the rock and the cutter.Consequently,ductile failure dominates again and a slight fluctuation of cutting force can be detected.As the cutter moves to the rock,the actual cutting depth gradually increases,which results in the subsequent generation of chunk-like cuttings.It is accompanied by an obvious cutting force drop.That is,ductile failure and brittle failure,one following another,present at large cutting depth.The transition of rock failure mode can be correlated with the variation of cutting force.Based on the results of this paper,the real-time monitoring of torque may be helpful to determine the efficiency of PDc bits in the downhole.

Perforation optimization of layer-penetration fracturing for commingling gas production in coal measure strata

Optimization of fracturing perforation is of great importance to the commingling gas production in coal measure strata.In this paper,a 3 D lattice algorithm hydraulic fracturing simulator was employed to study the effects of perforation position and length on hydraulic fracture propagation in coal measures of the Lin-Xing block,China.Based on field data,three lithologic combinations are simulated:1)a thick section of coal seam sandwiched by sandstones;2)a thin coal seam layer overlay by gas-bearing tight sandstone;3)two coal seams separated by a thin layer of sandstone.Our simulation shows that perforation position and length in multi-layer reservoirs play a major role in hydraulic fracture propagation.Achieving maximum stimulated volume requires consideration of lithologic sequence,coal seam thickness,stress states,and rock properties.To improve the combined gas production in coal measure strata,it is possible to simultaneously stimulate multiple coal seams or adjacent gas-bearing sandstones.In these cases,perforation location and length also significantly impact fracture propagation,and therefore should be carefully designed.Our simulation results using 3 D lattice algorithm are qualitatively consistent with laboratory physical simulation.3 D lattice models can be used to effectively simulate the fracture propagation through layers in coal measure strata.The numerical results provide guidance for perforation optimization in the hydraulic fracturing of coal measure strata.

Temperature effect on the dynamic adsorption of anionic surfactants and alkalis to silica surfaces

Chemical loss such as surfactants and alkalis by adsorption to reservoir rock surface is an important issue in enhanced oil recovery(EOR). Here, we investigated the adsorption behaviors of anionic surfactants and alkalis on silica for the first time as a function of temperature using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation(QCM-D). The results demonstrated that the temperature dependent critical micelle concentration of alcohol alkoxy sulfate(AAS) surfactant can be quantitatively described by the thermodynamics parameters of micellization, showing a mainly entropy-driven process. AAS adsorption was mediated under varying temperature conditions, by divalent cations for bridging effect, monovalent cations competitive for adsorption sites but not giving cation bridging, pH regulation of deprotonated sites of silica, presence of alkoxy groups in the surfactants, and synergistic effect of surfactant coinjection. The addition of organic alkalis can enhance the overall adsorption of the species with AAS,whereas inorganic alkali of Na_(2)CO_(3) had capability of the sequestration of the divalent ions, whose addition would reduce AAS adsorption. The typical AAS adsorption indicated a non-rigid multilayer,estimated to have between 2 and 5 layers, with a likely compact bilayer followed by disorganized and unstable further layering. The new fundamental understanding about temperature effect on surfactants and alkalis adsorption contributes to optimizing the flooding conditions of chemicals and developing more efficient mitigation strategies.