The effect of hydrate saturation on water retention curves in hydrate-bearing sediments

Abstract

The experimental measurement of water retention curve in hydrate-bearing sediments is critically important to understand the behavior of hydrate dissociation and gas production. In this study, tetrahydrofuran (THF) is selected as hydrate former. The pore habit of THF hydrates is investigated by visual observation in a transparent micromodel. It is confirmed that THF hydrates are not wetting phase on the quartz surface of the micromodel and occupy either an entire pore or part of pore space resulting in change in pore size distribution. And the measurement of water retention curves in THF hydrate-bearing sediments with hydrate saturation ranging from S-h=0 to S-h=0.7 is conducted for excess water condition. The experimental results show that the gas entry pressure and the capillary pressure increase with increasing hydrate saturation. Based on the experimental results, fitting parameters for van Genuchten equation are suggested for different hydrate saturation conditions.