• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.19-30
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• 2021

The presence of the hydrate-bearing sediments in Ulleung Basin of South Korea has been confirmed from previous studies. Researches on gas production methods from the hydrate-bearing sediments have been conducted worldwide. As production mechanism is a complex phenomenon in which thermal, hydraulic, and mechanical phenomena occur simultaneously, it is difficult to accurately conduct the productivity and stability analysis of hydrate bearing sediments through lab-scale experiments. Thus, the importance of numerical analysis in evaluating gas productivity and stability of hydrate-bearing sediments has been emphasized. In this study, the numerical parametric analysis was conducted to investigate the effects of the bottom hole pressure and the depressurization rate on the gas productivity and stability of hydrate-bearing sediments during the depressurization method. The numerical analysis results confirmed that as the bottom hole pressure decreases, the productivity increases and the stability of sediments deteriorates. Meanwhile, it was shown that the depressurization rate did not largely affect the productivity and stability of the hydrate-bearing sediments. In addition, sensitivity analysis for gas productivity and stability of the sediments were conducted according to the depressurization rate in order to establish a production strategy that prevents sand production during gas production. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that controlling the depressurization rate from a low value to a high value is effective in securing the stability. Moreover, during gas production, the subsidence of sediments occurred near the production well, and ground heave occurred at the bottom of the production well due to the pressure gradient. From these results, it was concluded that both the productivity and stability analyses should be conducted in order to determine the bottom hole pressure when producing gas using the depressurization method. Additionally, the stress analysis of the production well, which is induced by the vertical displacements of sediments, should be evaluated.

• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2001

Chemical speciation of five heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) has been analyzed from 37 surface and 2 core sediments of Kyeonggi Bay, using the modified sequential extraction method based on Tessier et at. (1979). The results show that heavy metals in the Kyeonggi Bay surface sediments are associated dominantly with the crystal lattice fraction. But in the polluted sediments of the Incheon North Harbor, the importance of the labile fractions increased while that of the lattice fraction decreased. In particular, the adsorbed and the easily reducible fractions showed a noticeable increase. In the core samples emerged a speciation pattern which differed significantly from that of the surface sediments. A sharp increase in the percentage of the reducible and organic/sulfide fractions and a decrease in the lattice fraction were observed. Throughout the vertical column, however, the metal contents in the lattice fraction showed stability while those of the labile fractions showed an upward increase. The strong association of heavy metals with the organic/sulfide fraction could be attributed in part to the sulfate reduction prevailing in the polluted harbor sediments.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.151-151
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• 2011

Large amounts of natural gas, mainly methane, in the form of hydrates are stored on continental margins. When gas hydrates are dissociated by any environmental trigger, generation of excess pore pressure due to released free gas may cause sediment deformation and weakening. Hence, damage on offshore structures or submarine landslide can occur by gas hydrate dissociation. Therefore, geotechnical stability of gas hydrate bearing sediments is in need to be securely assessed. However, geotechnical characteristics of gas hydrates bearing sediments including small-strain elastic moduli have been poorly identified. Synthesizing gas hydrate in natural seabed sediment specimen, which is mainly composed of silty-to-clayey soils, has been hardly attempted due to their low permeability. Moreover, it has been known that hydrate loci in pore spaces and heterogeneity of hydrate growth in specimen scale play a critical role in determining physical properties of hydrate bearing sediments. In the presented study, we synthesized gas hydrate containing sediments in an instrumented oedometric cell. Geotechnical and geophysical properties of gas hydrate bearing sediments including compressibility, small-strain elastic moduli, elastic wave, and electrical resistivity are determined by wave-based techniques during loading and unloading processes. Significant changes in volume change, elastic wave, and electrical resistivity have been observed during formation and dissociation of gas hydrate. Experimental results and analyses reveal that geotechnical properties of gas hydrates bearing sediments are highly governed by hydrate saturation, effective stress, void ratio, and soil types as well as morphological feature of hydrate formation in sediments.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.703-704
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• 2009

Natural gas Hydrate is an ice-like crystal containing natural gas it. Natural gas hydrate is studied as a new energy resource and a factor for seafloor slope stability and global warming. The unique pressure and temperature stability conditions of natural gas hydrate have challenged the research efforts. In this study, a new tool to study hydrate-bearing sediments and the preliminary results are introduced. The device can sustain 20MPa of the fluid pressure and apply 5MPa of the vertical effective stress under the temperature control. Cell can be scanned by X-ray CT scanner and also has the capability of multi-sensor data acquisition. Preliminary results suggests various application of the cell to hydrate-bearing research.

• 한국석유지질학회:학술대회논문집
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• spring
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• pp.56-65
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• 1998

Methane hydrate is ice-like solid compound consisting of mainly methane and water, and is stable under specific low temperature and high pressure conditions (HSZ : methane hydrate stability zone) that occurs in permafrost regions and in the ocean floor sediments. Geophysical survey was implemented in the southern area of the East Sea, and the HSZ of the study area is determined by the temperature, pressure and local heat flow obtained from the survey and well data. In the study area, methane hydrates could exist in the sediments below the water depths of about $300{\cal}m$, and the base of HSZ is about 600m beneath the seafloor. The acoustically blanking zones in the sediment and phenomena of gas seepage were detected from the seismic section. These sediments have the sufficient physical condition for the formation of methane hydrate. The temperature and pressure conditions were experimentally measured for the dissociation of methane and propane hydrates in Pure water. Equilibrium conditions of methane and propane hydrates were obtained in the pressure range up to 19050Kpa and 401.3Kpa. Under same temperature condition, propane hydrate was dissociated at lower pressure than that of methane hydrate.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.151-157
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• 2005

A one-dimensional numerical model was developed to simulate vertical profiles of electron acceptors and their reduced species in benthic sediments. The model accounted for microbial degradation of organic matter and subsequent chemical reactions of interest using stoichiometric relationships. Depending on the dominant electron acceptors utilized by microorganisms, the benthic sediments were assumed to be vertically subdivided into six zones: (1) aerobic respiration, (2) denitrification, (3) manganese reduction, (4) iron reduction, (5) sulfate reduction, and (6) methanogenesis. The utilizations of electron acceptors in the biologically mediated oxidation of organic matter were represented by Monod-type expression. The mass balance equations formulated for the reactive transport of organic matter, electron acceptors, and their corresponding reduced species in the sediments were solved utilizing an iterative multistep numerical method. The ability of model to simulate a freshwater sediments system was tested by comparing simulation results against published data obtained from lake sediments. The simulation results reasonably agreed with field measurements for most species, except for ammonia. This result showed that the C/N ratio (106/16) in the sediments is lower than what the Redfield formula prescribes. Since accurate estimates of vertical profiles of electron acceptors and their reduced species are important to determine the mobility and bioavailability of trace metals in the sediments, the model has potential application to assess the stability of selected trace metals in the sediments.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.215-220
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• 2008

This study examined the stability of cross- and box-type artificial reefs used to construct seaweed beds. Theoretical and experimental studies have clarified the Froude similitude. However, basic data needed to develop a more stable design for artificial reefs must be collected from long-term studies and analyses of sliding caused by waves. Hydraulic experiments are important for solving problems in the design and construction of artificial reefs. This study examined some design parameters for artificial reefs under wave and currents. The results showed the stability of cross- and box-type artificial reefs for constructing seaweed beds using a dimensionless parameter (the surf similarity parameter), water particle velocity, and so on. The hydraulics experiment indicated that the stability of artificial reefs differed according to their method of installation. This implies that artificial reefs should be installed after considering various environmental factors, such as wave breaking, reflection, and sediments.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.218-229
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• 2016

The bedform stability diagram indicates the shape and size of bedforms that will occur to a given grain size and flow velocity. The diagram has been constructed from experimental data which have been mostly acquired by flume experiments. Generally, the flume experiments have been performed on well sorted sediments with unimodal grain size distribution, in order to understand relationship between grain size and flow velocity. According to the diagram, a ripple structure initiates to be formed from lower flow regime flat bed, as the flow velocity increases on the surface of fine-sand or medium-sand sediments. This study aims to verify that the experimental result of bedform stability diagram will be reproduced in our flume experimental systems, and also to confirm that the result is consistent not only on well-sorted sand sediments but also on poorly-sorted sand sediments with bimodal grain size distribution. The experimental results in this study show that initiation of 2D or 3D ripple structure on poorly-sorted sand sediments requires higher flow velocity and shear stress than those for initiation of the structure on well-sorted sand sediments. In general, carbonate sediments are characterized by poor sorting due to inactive hydraulic sorting and bimodal grain size distribution with allochems and matrices. The results suggest that the carbonate depositional system possibly need a higher flow velocity for initial formation of 2D or 3D bedform structures. The reason might be the fact that pulling off and lifting of a grain in poorly sorted sediments require more energy due to sorting, friction, stabilization, armour effects, and their complex interaction. This preliminary study warrants additional experiments under various conditions and more accurate analysis on the relationship between formation of bedforms and grain size distribution.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.67-78
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• 2006

Six surface sediments from two offshore transects of Ulsan and Gampo, on the southeastern margin of Korea were taken for sediment and foraminiferal analyses. Sedimentary processes are dominated by reworking and resedimentation from storms in the area off Ulsan and hemipelagic suspension settling in the area off Gampo. Eighty-four foraminiferal species were identified in total assemblages, including 33species of living populations and 9 species of planktonic foraminifera. The characteristics of foraminifera showed differences of offshore environments between Ulsan and Gampo. The number of living species, species diversity and equitability in Gampo offshore area had higher values than those in Ulsan offshore area. However, planktonic/benthic(P/B) ratio showed higher in the Ulsan offshore area. The species diversity indices and P/B ratio indicated that environmental stability and surface-ocean productivity in the Gampo offshore area were relatively higher than the Ulsan offshore area. The difference of species compositions is useful for interpreting the paleoenvironments in mud deposits of the southeastern margin of Korea.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2007

Recent seismic surveys have shown that the presence of methane hydrate (MH) in sediments has significant influence on seismic attenuation. I have used vertical seismic profile (VSP) data from a Nankai Trough exploratory well, offshore Tokai in central Japan, to estimate compressional attenuation in MH-bearing sediments at seismic frequencies of 30-110 Hz. The use of two different measurement methods (spectral ratio and centroid frequency shift methods) provides an opportunity to validate the attenuation measurements. The sensitivity of attenuation analyses to different depth intervals, borehole irregularities, and different frequency ranges was also examined to validate the stability of attenuation estimation. I found no significant compressional attenuation in MH-bearing sediments at seismic frequencies. Macroscopically, the peaks of highest attenuation in the seismic frequency range correspond to low-saturation gas zones. In contrast, high compressional attenuation zones in the sonic frequency range (10-20 kHz) are associated with the presence of methane hydrates at the same well locations. Thus, this study demonstrated the frequency-dependence of attenuation in MH-bearing sediments; MH-bearing sediments cause attenuation in the sonic frequency range rather than the seismic frequency range As a possible reason why seismic frequencies in the 30-110 Hz range were not affected in MH-bearing sediments, I point out the effect of thin layering of MH-bearing zones.