• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.12a
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• pp.53-62
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• 2007

Preliminary gas hydrate surveys were carried out From 2000 to 2004 in the East Sea. Research results showed the geophysical evidence of gas hydrate existence. In 2005, Gas Hydrate R&D Organization was established and 10 year gas hydrate development program was initiated. In the $1^{st}$ stage of the program from 2005 to 2007, 6,600 L-km 2-D seismic survey was conducted in the $1^{st}$ year 2005, and $400\;km^2$ 3D survey was conducted in the $2^{nd}$ year 2006. Acquired seismic data were processed and seismic section and 3D cube were produced. By geophysical interpretation and velocity analysis, prospective areas were mapped and candidate drilling sites were recommended. For the precise interpretation, velocity was analyzed using AVO method, and BSR signal was analyzed using deconvolution method. For the prospective area, OBS and high-resolution seismic surveys were conducted. This presentation shows the introduction and examples of the research results of the geophysical methods applied for the gas hydrate exploration in the East Sea.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.425-428
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• 2006

Natural gas hydrate has been a major problem for its plugging nature in the pipeline. With the demand of deep-water production, the importance of flow assurance technology, preventing hydrate, asphaltene and wax in the pipeline becomes bigger Kinetic models combined with the flow simulator are being developed to explain the nature of hydrate plug formation in the pipeline. To simulate the hydrate plug formation, each stage including the nucleation, growth and agglomeration should be considered. The hydrate nucleation is known to be stochastic and is believed hard to be predicted. Recent publications showed hydrate growth and agglomeration can be observed rigorously using a particle size analyzer. However properties of the hydrate should be investigated to model the growth and agglomeration. The attractive force between hydrate particles, supposed to be the capillary force, was revealed to be stochastic. Alternative way to model the hydrate agglomeration is to simulate by the discrete element method. Those parameters, particle size distribution, attractive force, and growth rate are embedded into the kinetic model which is combined Into the flow simulator. When compared with the flowloop experimental data, hydrate kinetic model combined into a flow simulator showed good results. With the early results, the hydrate kinetic model is promising but needs more efforts to improve it.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.263-270
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• 2008

The Gas Hydrate Research and Development Organization (KGHDO) of Korea accomplished successfully geophysical logging (LWD: Logging While Drilling, MWD: Measurement While Drilling) for five sites in 2007, in order to investigate the presence of gas hydrate in the Ulleung Basin, the East Sea of Korea. The togging parameters acquired from LWD/MWD dre electrical resistivity, acoustic velocity, neutron density and porosity, and natural gamma. In addition, pressure, temperature, and diameter of borehole were measured. LWD/MWD data showed several evidences indicating the presence of gas hydrate. Based on LWD/MWD data, three coring sites were selected for sampling of gas hydrate. Subsequently, various gas hydrate samples were collected directly from three sites. Therefore. the presence of gas hydrates was verified by coring. LWD/MWD data will be significantly used to estimate the amount of gas hydrate. Also, they will provide important information to elucidate about sedimentologic characteristics of gas-hydrate bearing formation and sedimentary environment of the Ulleung Basin.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.711-711
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• 2009

Global warming has been widely recognized as a serious problem threatening the future of human beings. It is caused by the buildup in the atmosphere of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). Particularly, SF6 has extremely high global warming potential compare to those of other global warming gases. One option for mitigating this greenhouse gas is the development of an effective process for capturing and separating these gases from anthropogenic sources. In general, gas hydrates can be formed under high pressure and low temperature. However, SF6 gas is known to form hydrate under relatively milder conditions. Therefore, technological and economical effects could be expected for the separation of SF6 gas from waste gas mixtures. In this study, we carried out morphological study for the SF6 hydrate crystals to understand its formation and growth mechanisms. The observations were made in high-pressure optical cell charged with liquid water and SF6 gas at constant pressure and temperature. Initially SF6 hydrate formed at the surface between gas and liquid regions, and then subsequent dendrite crystals grew at the wall above the gas/water interface. The visual observations of crystal nucleation, migration, growth and interference were reported. The detailed growth characteristics of SF6 hydrate crystals were discussed in this study.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Mineral and Energy Resources Engineers
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.670-687
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• 2018

This paper reviews the structures, physical and chemical properties, origins and global distribution, amount of energy resources, production technologies, and environmental impacts of gas hydrates to understand the gas hydrates as future energy sources. Hydrate structures should be studied to clarify the fundamentals of natural gas hydrates, hydrate distributions, and amount of energy sources in hydrates. Phase equilibria, dissociation enthalpy, thermal conductivity, specific heat, thermal diffusivity, and fluid permeability of gas hydrate systems are important parameters for the the efficient recovery of natural gas from hydrate reservoirs. Depressurization, thermal stimulation, inhibitor injection, and chemical exchange methods can be considered as future technologies to recover the energy sources from natural gas hydrates, but so far depressurization is the only method to have been applied in test productions of both onshore and offshore hydrates. Finally, we discuss the hypotheses of environmental impacts of gas hydrates and their contribution to global warming due to hydrate dissociation.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.51-58
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• 2007

Gas hydrate is a special kind of inclusion compound that can be formed by capturing gas molecules to water lattice in high pressure and low temperature conditions. When referred to standard conditions, $1m^3$ solid hydrates contain up to $172Nm^3$ of methane gas, depending on the pressure and temperature of production. Such large volumes make natural gas hydrates can be used to store and transport natural gas. In this study, three-phase equilibrium conditions for forming methane hydrate were theoretically obtained in aqueous single electrolyte solution containing 3wt% NaCl. The results show that the predictions match the previous experimental values very well, and it was found that NaCl acts as an inhibitor.

• Journal of the Korean Geophysical Society
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.207-215
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• 2004

As the sea connecting with the East Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk is the most potential area of gas hydrates in the world. In other to examine geophysical structures of gas hydrate-bearing sediments in the Sea of Okhotsk, the CHAOS (hydro-Carbon Hydrate Accumulation in the Okhotsk) international research expedition was carried out in August 2003. In the expedition, high-resolution seismic and geochemical survey was also conducted. Sparker seismic profiles show only diffusive high-amplitude reflections without BSRs at BSR depth. It means that BSR appears to be completely different images on seismic profiles obtained using different frequencies. Many gas chimneys rise up from BSR depth to seafloor. The chimneys can be divided into two groups with different seismic characteristics; wipe-out (WO) and enhanced reflection (ER) chimneys. Different seismic responses in the chimneys would be caused by amount of gas and gas hydrates filling in the chimneys. In hydroacoustic data, a lot of gas flares rise up several hundreds meters from seafloor to the water column. All flares took placed at the depths within gas hydrate stability zone. It is interpreted that gas hydrate-bearing sediments with low porosity and permeability due to gas hydrate filling in the pore space make good pipe around gas chimneys in which gas is migrating up without loss of amount. Therefore, large-scale gas flare at the site on gas chimney releases into the water column.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.695-702
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• 2003

In this study, an experimental apparatus has been designed and set-up to analyse the dissociating phenomena of hydrate in porous rock using electric heating method supplied at downhole. The electric heat injecting experiments have been performed to investigate the heat transfer within the core, the dissociating phenomena of hydrate, and the productivities of dissociated gas and water. These experiments were under constant heat injecting method as well as preheating methods. From the experimental results, it is seen that the hydrates is dissociated along the phase equilibrium curve and dissociation of hydrate is accelerated with heat. The injected heat is consumed for the dissociation and also it is lost together with outflow of the dissociated gas and water. From the investigation of gas producing behavior for various heat injecting methods, as the injected heat is greater, dissociation is accelerated faster at outlet and hence the initial gas production becomes higher. Also, it is shown that the initial gas productivity under the constant heating method is better, however, the energy efficiency is low because of smaller amount of the produced gas comparing to the amount of heat injected. In the experiments of preheating method, it was seen that gas production only initial stage is different with the preheating time, but the producing behaviors of gas production are similar.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.23 no.E1
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• pp.10-15
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• 2007

The gas hydrates are probably most sensitive to climate change since they are stable only under specific conditions of high pressure and low temperature. One of the main factors responsible for formation of gas hydrates is the saturation of the gases with water vapor. Quantitative phase equilibrium data and understanding of the roles of water component in the phase behavior of the heterogeneous water-hydrocarbon-hydrate mixture are of importance and of engineering value. In this study, the water content of ethylene gas in equilibrium with hydrate and water phases were analyzed by theoretical and experimental methods at temperatures between 274.15 up to 291.75 K and pressures between 593.99 to 8,443.18 kPa. The experimental and theoretical enhancement factors (EF) for the water content of ethylene gas and the fugacity coefficients of water and ethylene in gas phase were determined and compared with each other over the entire range of pressure carried out in this experiment. In order to get the theoretical enhancement factors, the modified Redlich-Kwong equation of state was used. The Peng-Robinson equations and modified Redlich-Kwong equations of state were used to get the fugacity coefficients for ethylene and water in the gas phase. The results predicted by both equations agree very well with the experimental values for the fugacity coefficients of the compressed ethylene gas containing small amount of water, whereas, those of water vapor do not in the ethylene rich gas at high temperature for hydrate formation locus.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.342-350
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• 2020

In this study, a hydrate inhibition system is investigated for shallow water gas fields. Mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) injection has been used as a typical method for inhibiting hydrate formation in gas fields; therefore, most offshore platforms are equipped with MEG injection and regeneration processes. A recent application of a kinetic hydrate inhibitor (KHI) has reduced the total volume of MEG injection and hence reduce the operating cost. Experiments are designed and performed to evaluate and verify the KHI performance for inhibiting hydrate formation under shallow water conditions. However, the shut-in and restart operation may require the injection and regeneration of MEG. For this operation, the MEG concentration must be optimized while considering the cost of MEG regeneration. The obtained results suggest that decreasing MEG concentration from 80 wt% to 70 wt% can reduce the life cycle cost (LCC) of MEG regeneration process by approximately 5.98 million USD owing to reduced distillation column cost. These results suggest that the hydrate inhibition system must be evaluated through well-designed experiments and process simulations involving LCC analysis.