Research into Dissociation Zones of Gas Hydrate Deposits with a Heterogeneous Structure in the Black Sea

Abstract

Ukraine is an energy-dependent country, with less that 50% of its energy consumption fulfilled by its own resources. Natural gas is of paramount importance, especially for industry and society. Therefore, there is an urgent need to search for alternative and potential energy sources, such as gas hydrate deposits in the Black Sea, which can reduce the consumption of imported gas. It is necessary to refine the process parameters of the dissociation of gas hydrate deposits with a heterogeneous structure. The analyzed known geological–geophysical data devoted to the study of the offshore area and the seabed give grounds to assert the existence of a significant amount of hydrate deposits in the Black Sea. An integrated methodological approach is applied, which consists of the development of algorithms for analytical and laboratory studies of gas volumes obtained during the dissociation of deposits with a heterogeneous structure. These data are used for the computer modelling of the dissociation zone in the Surfer-8.0 software package based on the data interpolation method, which uses three methods for calculating the volumes of modelling bodies. A 3D grid-visualization of the studied part of the gas hydrate deposit has been developed. The dissociation zone parameters of gas hydrate deposits with different shares of rock intercalation, that is, the minimum and maximum diameters, have been determined, and the potentially recoverable gas volumes have been assessed. The effective time of the process of gas hydrate deposit dissociation has been substantiated. The obtained research results of the dissociation process of gas hydrate deposits can be used in the development of new technological schemes for gas recovery from the deep-water Black Sea area.