An effective medium inversion algorithm for gas hydrate quantification and its application to laboratory and borehole measurements of gas hydrate-bearing sediments

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

12

Attenuation, Elastic Wave Theory, Gas Hydrate, P Waves, S Waves

Scientific paper

The presence of gas hydrate in marine sediments alters their physical properties. In some circumstances, gas hydrate may cement sediment grains together and dramatically increase the seismic P- and S-wave velocities of the composite medium. Hydrate may also form a load-bearing structure within the sediment microstructure, but with different seismic wave attenuation characteristics, changing the attenuation behaviour of the composite. Here we introduce an inversion algorithm based on effective medium modelling to infer hydrate saturations from velocity and attenuation measurements on hydrate-bearing sediments. The velocity increase is modelled as extra binding developed by gas hydrate that strengthens the sediment microstructure. The attenuation increase is modelled through a difference in fluid flow properties caused by different permeabilities in the sediment and hydrate microstructures. We relate velocity and attenuation increases in hydrate-bearing sediments to their hydrate content, using an effective medium inversion algorithm based on the self-consistent approximation (SCA), differential effective medium (DEM) theory, and Biot and squirt flow mechanisms of fluid flow. The inversion algorithm is able to convert observations in compressional and shear wave velocities and attenuations to hydrate saturation in the sediment pore space. We applied our algorithm to a data set from the Mallik 2L-38 well, Mackenzie delta, Canada, and to data from laboratory measurements on gas-rich and water-saturated sand samples. Predictions using our algorithm match the borehole data and water-saturated laboratory data if the proportion of hydrate contributing to the load-bearing structure increases with hydrate saturation. The predictions match the gas-rich laboratory data if that proportion decreases with hydrate saturation. We attribute this difference to differences in hydrate formation mechanisms between the two environments.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

An effective medium inversion algorithm for gas hydrate quantification and its application to laboratory and borehole measurements of gas hydrate-bearing sediments does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with An effective medium inversion algorithm for gas hydrate quantification and its application to laboratory and borehole measurements of gas hydrate-bearing sediments, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and An effective medium inversion algorithm for gas hydrate quantification and its application to laboratory and borehole measurements of gas hydrate-bearing sediments will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1780166

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.