Assessment of the possibility of natural and associated petroleum gases storage in the hydrate state

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to study the natural gas hydrates formation and decomposition processes. Natural gases from the Otradninsky and Srednevilyuisky gas condensate fields were chosen as models of associated petroleum gases. In this paper, the natural gas hydrates formation in water, in a 2% sodium bicarbonate solution was studied and the kinetic parameters of the hydrates decomposition were determined. It has been established that the hydrate formation of natural gas with a higher relative density begins at lower pressures at the same temperature. The degree of water conversion into hydrate increases with a decrease of the gas relative density. Compared to water, the stability of hydrates obtained in sodium bicarbonate solution is almost 2 times higher. The concentration of C2-C4 methane homologues in hydrates leads to an increase of the gas fat coefficient. The conclusion is made about the possibility of the natural and associated petroleum gases utilization and storage in the hydrate state. Keywords: natural gas; associated petroleum gas; utilization; natural gas hydrates; equilibrium conditions of hydrate formation; bicarbonate-sodium type water; fat coefficient.