What is "flammable ice"? China has begun extracting flammable ice from the seabed Bermuda Triangle - methane hydrate trap

MOSCOW, May 18 - RIA Novosti. China has announced a successful experiment to extract “combustible ice”—natural gas hydrate—from the bottom of the South China Sea. According to statements by representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources of China on CCTV, the start of industrial production of gas hydrate may mean a transition to clean alternative energy of the future.
According to Ye Jianliang, a representative of the Chinese Geological Survey, work to extract gas hydrates from a depth of more than a kilometer has been carried out since May 10. During this time, it was possible to produce more than 120 thousand cubic meters of gas.
According to the head of the department for research of the energy complex of the world and Russia at the Institute of Energy Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vyacheslav Kulagin, it is still premature to talk about the beginning of the energy revolution.

“The fact that China was able to confirm the possibility of extracting gas from gas hydrates is truly an achievement from a scientific point of view,” comments Vyacheslav Kulagin. “But today the key issue is the economic efficiency of this method of methane extraction, which has not yet been disclosed. At the moment, it is estimated that in the coming years and even decades, the extraction of gas from gas hydrates is unlikely to become profitable, and China itself does not consider gas hydrates in its strategic documents as one of the main types of fuel in the medium term. For example, active research on shale gas extraction has been carried out in China. "For 35 years before the technology became economically viable, and the first production of shale gas was back in 1821. In the situation with hydrates, everything will become clearer when the economics of the project are announced."

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"Combustible ice" - gas hydrate - is an ice crystalline compound formed by natural gas (methane) and water at high pressure and low temperature. One cubic meter of “combustible ice” contains 164 cubic meters of ordinary natural gas and contains virtually no impurities. The world's estimated reserves of flammable ice are more than twice those of coal, oil and natural gas. The largest deposits are located off the coast of China. The first successful experiments in extracting natural gas from gas hydrates were carried out by Japan in 2013, but later stopped development.

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/. Russian mathematicians created a model for developing deposits of the richest source of natural gas on the planet - gas hydrates, the concentration of which is high in the Arctic zone, and Skoltech scientists proposed a technology for extracting methane from hydrates. Experts told TASS how the production of such methane will help reduce the greenhouse effect, what are the advantages of new research, and whether there are prospects for the industrial development of gas hydrates in Russia.

Against the greenhouse effect

Gas hydrates are solid crystalline compounds of ice and gas; they are also called “flammable ice.” In nature, they are found in the thickness of the ocean floor and in permafrost rocks, so extracting them is very difficult - wells must be drilled to a depth of several hundred meters, and then natural gas can be separated from the ice deposits and transported to the surface. Chinese oil workers managed to do this in the South China Sea in 2017, but to do this they had to go deeper into the seabed by more than 200 meters, despite the fact that the depth in the production area exceeded 1.2 km.

Researchers consider gas hydrates a promising source of energy, which can be in demand, in particular, by countries with limited other energy resources, for example, Japan and South Korea. Estimates of the content of methane, the combustion of which provides energy, in gas hydrates around the world vary: from 2.8 quadrillion tons according to the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation to 5 quadrillion tons according to the World Energy Agency (IEA). Even minimal estimates reflect huge reserves: for comparison, BP Corporation (British Petroleum) estimated global oil reserves at 240 billion tons in 2015.

“According to estimates of some organizations, primarily Gazprom VNIIGAZ, methane resources in gas hydrates on the territory of the Russian Federation range from 100 to 1000 trillion cubic meters, in the Arctic zone, including the seas, up to 600-700 trillion cubic meters, but this is very approximate,” - Evgeniy Chuvilin, leading researcher at the Center for Hydrocarbon Production at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech), told TASS.

In addition to the actual source of energy, gas hydrates can become a salvation from greenhouse gases, which will help stop global warming. The voids emptied of methane can be filled with carbon dioxide.

"According to researchers, methane hydrates contain more than 50% of the carbon of the total known world hydrocarbon reserves. This is not only the richest source of hydrocarbon gas on our planet, but also a possible reservoir for carbon dioxide, which is considered a greenhouse gas. You can kill two birds with one stone - extract methane, burn it to produce energy and pump in its place carbon dioxide obtained during combustion, which will take the place of methane in the hydrate,” Nail Musakaev, deputy director for scientific work of the Tyumen branch of the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told TASS.

In permafrost conditions

Today, researchers identify three main promising methods for extracting gas hydrates.

“Before extracting gas from hydrates, it is necessary to decompose them into components - gas and water or gas and ice. The main methods of gas production can be distinguished - reducing pressure at the bottom of the well, heating the formation with hot water or steam, supplying inhibitors (substances) to the formation for the decomposition of gas hydrates - TASS note),” Musakaev explained.

Scientists from Tyumen and Sterlitamak have created a mathematical model for methane production in permafrost. It is noteworthy in that it takes into account the process of ice formation during field development.

“The formation of ice has pros and cons: it can clog equipment, but, on the other hand, the decomposition of gas hydrate into gas and ice requires three times less energy than when decomposing into gas and water,” Musakaev said.

The advantage of mathematical modeling is the ability to predict the development scenario for gas hydrate deposits, including assessing the economic efficiency of gas production methods from such deposits. The results may be of interest to design organizations involved in planning and exploration of gas hydrate fields, the scientist noted.

Skoltech is also developing technologies for extracting methane from hydrates. Together with colleagues from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Skoltech specialists proposed extracting methane from gas hydrates by pumping air into the rock layer. “This method is more economical than existing ones and has less impact on the environment,” Chuvilin explained.

This method assumes that carbon dioxide or nitrogen is injected into the formation, and gas hydrates are decomposed into components due to the difference in pressure. “We are still conducting methodological research to test the method and its effectiveness. The creation of the technology is still far away, while we are creating the physical and chemical foundations of this technology,” the scientist emphasized.

According to Chuvilin, Russia does not yet have fully developed technologies for efficient methane production from hydrates, since there are no targeted programs to support this scientific area. But development is still underway. “Gas hydrates may not become the main energy resource of the future, but their use will certainly require the development of new knowledge,” Musakaev added.

Economic expediency

The forecast for the development of the Russian fuel and energy complex for the period up to 2035 takes into account the exploration and development of gas hydrate fields among the long-term prospects for gas production. The document notes that gas hydrates can become “a factor in global energy only in 30-40 years,” but a breakthrough scenario is not ruled out. In any case, the development of hydrates will entail a global redistribution in the world market of fuel resources - gas prices will decline, and mining corporations will be able to maintain their income only by capturing new markets and increasing sales volumes. For the massive development of such deposits, it is necessary to create new technologies, improve and reduce the cost of existing ones, the strategy notes.

Considering the inaccessibility of hydrates and the complexity of their extraction, experts call them a promising source of energy, but note that this is not a trend in the coming years - hydrates require new technologies that are still being developed. And in conditions of established natural gas production, methane from hydrates is not in the most advantageous position. In the future, everything will depend on the energy market conditions.

Deputy Director of the Skoltech Hydrocarbon Production Center Alexey Cheremisin believes that methane from hydrates will not be produced soon, precisely because of the existing reserves of traditional gas.

“The timing of industrial production depends both on the economically available technology for searching, localizing and producing gas, and on market factors. Gas producing companies have sufficient reserves of traditional gas, so they consider gas production technologies from gas hydrates as a basis for the long term. In my opinion, industrial production in the Russian Federation will begin no earlier than in 10 years,” the expert said.

According to Chuvilin, there are fields in Russia where methane from gas hydrates can begin to be produced in the next 10 years, and this will be quite promising. “In some gas fields in the north of Western Siberia, when traditional gas reservoirs are depleted, it is possible to develop overlying horizons where gas can be in hydrated form. This is possible in the next decade, everything will depend on the cost of energy resources,” the agency’s interlocutor concluded.

As you know, water has a rather complex structure. Water is a universal solvent, one of the two main universal solvents known to chemists. Water can mix with almost any substance, especially methane. When methane is dissolved in water, clusters are formed whose structures are liquid at ordinary room temperature and atmospheric pressure, but these clusters, at a temperature of the order of 4°C and a pressure of several hundred atmospheres, unlike water, become solid and form so-called gas hydrates. Hydrates are formed not only with methane, they can also form with other hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gases. This is a fairly common occurrence.

If these gas hydrates are exposed to conditions where they are stable, they accumulate. Many bacteria that live in seawater produce methane. This methane binds to water and sinks to the bottom because gas hydrates are heavier than water. And deposits of gas hydrates accumulate at the bottom. All deep ocean trenches contain these hydrates. In Russia there are entire deposits of gas hydrates on land. These are gases that are mixed with water and in a solid state. Permafrost has a temperature of 0 to -3 °C; under these conditions, hydrates can form even at atmospheric pressure.

The news that China has extracted “flammable ice” from the bottom of the sea means nothing; this is a statement on the level that Russia is the homeland of elephants. This could be a statement by an incompetent person on a not very well known topic, or a statement by a competent person who wants to deceive incompetent people. They didn't discover anything new.

The existence of gas hydrates at the bottom of deep ocean trenches has been known for more than half a century. In the 70s, it was proven that such hydrates also exist on land; they were discovered in the permafrost zone in Yakutia. Then Soviet scientists received a diploma for the discovery. As you know, it is not difficult to obtain a patent for an invention, but only a few diplomas are issued per year all over the world. But even this discovery is half a century old. As for gas hydrates, which are called “flammable ice,” everyone has known about this for a long time. Japan has been trying for several decades to implement a program to extract these gas hydrates from the bottom of the depressions. Technically, this is easy to implement and you can dredge up as many granules as you like, but the fact is that when they rise to the surface, they immediately begin to disintegrate into water and methane, which escapes into the atmosphere. By the way, methane is the most powerful agent for preserving the greenhouse effect; in this sense, it surpasses even carbon dioxide. This is direct harm to the environment.

As for using gas hydrates as fuel, this is a technical problem; you must first raise it to the surface, then create conditions so that the hydrate does not disintegrate. It is necessary to ensure low temperatures, about 4°C and a pressure of several hundred atmospheres. The hydrate is stored in this form and, if necessary, is divided into water and gas, after which the gas is used as fuel. But this turns out to be economically unfeasible, because pressure can only be maintained by consuming fuel. The result is that you spend more than you receive. The Chinese, like the Japanese, are trying to solve this technical problem, because their energy balance is negative, they are forced to import additional energy from other countries, mainly from Russia.

This topic is not very interesting and quite voluminous in terms of information. To one degree or another, this topic is dealt with here, and to some extent in the USA. This is not exotic, not a discovery or news at all. Yes, the Chinese have installed a platform, they have reached the level of semi-industrial use. Everything is good, one thing is bad - the economics of this technological process are negative. So far, more money is going there than is coming back. Therefore, gas hydrates cannot be considered competitors of conventional types of energy carriers. If this were possible, the Japanese would have long ago gotten rid of gas dependence and ceased to be the main importer of gas in the world.

The “combustible ice” produced by China for the first time will not withstand competition with Russian natural gas in the next decade. For the energy revolution, it is necessary to first develop the technology and significantly reduce the cost of its production, says a teacher at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Igor Yushkov.

Chinese "flammable ice"

Chinese oil workers were the first in the world to extract natural gas hydrate from the bottom of the South China Sea. The Chinese themselves immediately called their success colossal. In their opinion, “combustible ice” is capable of making a revolution in the energy sector, comparable to the shale revolution. In total, they extracted about 120 cubic meters of energy, the methane content in it is 99.5%.

“We are talking about gas hydrates, and the Chinese are not pioneers here. Various countries have been engaged in development almost since the middle of the 20th century, and the Japanese are closer to the breakthrough. Last year they already announced that they had tested industrial gas production from gas hydrate. In principle, gas hydrate can be produced anywhere. Methane is found in a small layer of silty sediment, and if you come to a swamp or flooded area near a pond, you can extract methane yourself using an ordinary ballpoint pen.

It is known that the largest reserves of gas hydrate are located on Lake Baikal. But at the moment there is no commercially viable gas hydrate extraction technology, although many countries are working on it. The cost of producing “combustible ice” will be significantly higher than purchasing gas from other suppliers from traditional fields. But if production technology suddenly became available, then everyone would start extracting gas from gas hydrates, and then a global energy revolution would begin,” comments FBA "Economy Today" expert.

Cost of production of "combustible gas"

Researcher at the Center for Industrial Economics, Financial Research Institute Andrey Gordeev in turn, he notes that it is not yet possible to compare the success of China with the shale revolution, since it has been preparing for a very long time.

“We will see developments and implementations first, but they require serious investments. Most likely, Chinese gas hydrate production technology will not become widespread in the coming years. In addition, the era of hydrocarbons will persist, even despite the development of alternative energy and electric vehicles.

The main stumbling block in this case is the lack of infrastructure, since its implementation remains a capital-intensive task. Of course, the discovery of China is innovative to some extent, but it will not be the end of the era of hydrocarbons, since oil will retain its position in the energy market in the next decade,” the interlocutor explains to us.

In 2013, for the first time, the Japanese announced the extraction of methane from “combustible ice”; however, they did not lift samples of hydrate from the bottom of the sea; natural gas, after pumping out the water, went up through a pipeline.

“The Chinese freeze silt deposits and then extract gas from it, that is, in fact, they use a different extraction method. The whole question is the cost of such production. If our cost of production per well averages 10-15 dollars, and in large fields in Yamal it tends to zero, then in the case of “flammable ice” it will be extremely high.

The same shale production technology was tested for about 30 years until it gave acceptable results, while gas was more expensive on the market at that time. Now the price of gas varies from 200 to 300 dollars per 1000 cubic meters, and it is extremely difficult to develop alternative sources at such a price, they simply cannot withstand competition,” sums up Yushkov.

Combustible ice is essentially frozen natural gas - natural gas hydrate, and one of the newest sources of energy. New deposits discovered in China reveal a huge source equivalent to at least 35 billion tons of oil, enough to power China for 90 years.

Scientists have found flammable ice at high altitudes on ice-covered plateaus, and also underwater in marine sediments. Natural gas hydrates are essentially frozen methane and water and can literally burn, giving a new meaning to ice and fire. Researchers still have to study the new fuel further before it can be commercialized. The US Department of Energy is also interested in this issue, researchers suggest that the hydrate must undergo a phase change and melt into methane and water before it can be effectively burned. If it melts on its own as the earth warms, the methane could be released into the atmosphere - potentially causing even more harm than simply burning it.

One cubic meter of combustible ice contains 164 cubic meters of regular natural gas and is supposed to contain few impurities - meaning it will release fewer pollutants when burned.

 

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