Fluid Flow in the Enhancement of Gas Hydrate Production via the Heat Injection Method

Natural gas hydrates have huge reserves on Earth, and how to exploit them efficiently and safely has been a significant issue of concern for a few countries. The depressurization method is one of the most promising methods for achieving commercial exploitation, and supplemented with different types of heat input methods, it can further improve gas production efficiency. In this work, we innovatively employ pre-embedded heating coils and direct injection of fluids (gas and liquid) into the reservoir to realistically simulate the effects of heat transfer and fluid flow on the gas production behavior during the production process. The results showed that heat input could increase production by up to 6.5 %, while fluid flow could increase gas production by 15.9 and 16.8 % compared to direct depressurization gas production. It was found that fluid flow was more effective than gas, while gas was better than heat input. This finding provides new insights into the effect of fluid flow on gas production behavior and is a true reflection of the gas production pattern in field tests.