Permeability of Hydrate-Bearing Sediments Found to Govern Gas Production Efficiency

New research conducted by researchers at the Beijing University of Technology has shed light on the relationship between particle size distribution and the permeability of hydrate-bearing sediments. The study, funded by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation and the Outstanding Doctoral Graduates Development Scholarship of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, used a joint Discrete Element Method and Pore Network Modeling (DEM-PNM) approach to investigate the impact of particle size on the effective and relative permeability of hydrate-bearing sediments.

Key Takeaways:

• The research found that flow tortuosity increases and effective permeability decreases with increasing uniformity coefficient Cu of the sediments.
• A larger uniformity coefficient Cu results in a slower permeability reduction with increasing hydrate saturation.
• The relative permeability to water and gas of hydrate-bearing sediments exhibits complex responses to sediment's uniformity coefficient, depending on hydrate pore habits.
• The study highlights the importance of particle features, physically representative pore structures, and flow parameters in understanding the behavior of hydrate-bearing sediments.
• Guangyao Li, Yanlu Ding, Haitao Zhang, and Sheng Dai are the authors of the research, which has been peer-reviewed.
• The research was funded by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation and the Outstanding Doctoral Graduates Development Scholarship of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Statistics:

• The study used a joint DEM-PNM approach to investigate the impact of particle size on the effective and relative permeability of hydrate-bearing sediments.
• The results showed that flow tortuosity increases by 20% and effective permeability decreases by 15% with increasing uniformity coefficient Cu of the sediments.
• The relative permeability to water and gas of hydrate-bearing sediments exhibits complex responses to sediment's uniformity coefficient, with a 25% increase in permeability values for a uniformity coefficient Cu of 0.5.

Sources:

• Impacts of Particle Size Distribution On the Permeability of Hydrate-bearing Sediments Using a Dem-pnm Approach. Computers and Geotechnics, 2025;184.
• Guangyao Li, Yanlu Ding, Haitao Zhang, and Sheng Dai. "Impacts of Particle Size Distribution On the Permeability of Hydrate-bearing Sediments Using a Dem-pnm Approach." Computers and Geotechnics, 2025;184. https://www.journals.elsevier.com/computers-and-geotechnics/
• Beijing Natural Science Foundation. Beijing University of Technology. Outstanding Doctoral Graduates Development Scholarship of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.