Exploring Promising Concepts and Critical Technologies for Offshore Methane Hydrate Development System

Abstract

Natural gas production from offshore methane hydrates can increase the energy security conditions for many countries, such as Japan. Methane hydrate is an unconventional source of carbon hydrates and further research is required to achieve cost efficient production. However, the concept of development system, such as production facilities, has yet been decided. Production facility system comprise many equipment and technology, and it is not easy to decide or prioritize which technology to invest research resource in. The problem requires an architectural decision under technological uncertainty. In this paper, we follow the systems approach to evaluate various possibilities of production facility system and measure the interactions that occur between each technology development and architectural decisions. In the course of the study, we utilize domain knowledge such as analogy to existing offshore gas production facilities to define system functions, and existing R&D projects to consider TRL of each technology component. Gathering expert’s knowledge was crucial to tackle such multi-discipline problem. The important index for concept selection was flexibility and mobility considering the uncertainty of well production lifetime. While optimum concept varies among the various field conditions, we find some technology that are critical in many promising concepts. Finally, we propose critical technology sets and several promising concepts, together with discussion on the role of system architecture in such problem.