Hydrates de gaz ... au fou !

[energy_isere]

en relation avec ce post : viewtopic.php?p=303610#p303610

Les études d' extraction d' hydrate de methane dans le sous sol de l' Alaska (vers Prudhoe Bay) va demarer sur les 3 premiers mois de 2012. C 'et le Department of Energy (DOE) tazus qui fait ca avec Conoco Philllips et des Japonais.

Pilot seeks to thaw methane hydrate promise

01 Nov 2011

The question of whether natural gas locked in ice, known as methane hydrates, can help the world keep pace with its growing demand for energy will soon become clearer. Pilot studies on gas extraction are being carried out by a joint venture that will use a fully instrumented borehole which was installed in the Prudhoe Bay region of Alaska earlier this year. The tests will run from January to March 2012.

The project, which is being run by the US Department of Energy (DOE), the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) and the US oil major ConocoPhillips, will trial two processes. The first involves injecting carbon dioxide into a methane hydrate bearing sandstone on the Alaska North Slope region, exchanging carbon dioxide with methane. It is also hoped that the process will result in the permanent storage of carbon dioxide within the formation.

After these exchange tests, the researchers will conduct a one month evaluation of a second alternative methane production method called depressurisation. This involves pumping fluids out of the borehole to reduce the pressure in the well; the depressurisation 'melts' the methane hydrate, also known as clathrates, releasing methane and liquid water.

Ray Boswell, manager of the methane gas hydrate R&D programme at the DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory, describes the work as 'a small-scale scientific experiment' designed to understand the physical processes - not to demonstrate specific production rates.

'Many experts believe that methane hydrates hold significant potential to supply this clean fossil fuel,' says ConocoPhillips spokesperson Amy Burnett. 'At present, the technology does not exist to produce methane economically from hydrates. This trial is an important first step in analysing a production technology with potential both to produce this resource and to sequester carbon dioxide in the process.'

...................

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/ ... 111102.asp

[mobar]

une vidéo édifiante http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xd4yrk ... thane_news

[energy_isere]

.....
Le Japon est donc appelé à être durablement un des gros consommateurs asiatiques de gaz naturel.

Outre ses engagements d'achats de gaz en provenance de Russie ou d'Australie, illustré par le développement du gisement d'Ichtys par Inpex et Total, le Japon travaille activement pour les prochaines décennies, à la découverte et à la possible mise en exploitation de gisements d'hydrate de méthane sous les fonds océaniques.

Après une première phase conduite entre 2001 et 2010 de nombreux gisements d'hydrates ont été identifiés. La phase 2 du projet va se concrétiser en 2012 par un essai d'exploitation d'une semaine d'un gisement au large du Japon dans la fosse de Nankaï. Il devrait être suivi en 2014 sur une période plus longue de test. L'objectif du programme est d'avoir défini un mode d'exploitation industriel permanent des hydrates en 2018.



..............

extrait de http://www.leblogenergie.com/2012/01/le ... thane.html

[energy_isere]

Roland Vially, géologue à l'IFP : "les hydrates de méthanes pourraient constituer une nouvelle source de gaz à l'horizon 2030"

Hugo Leroux, Industrie et Technologies
Les hydrates de méthane représentent d’immenses volumes de gaz naturel dormant sous les sols arctiques et les planchers océaniques. Entre janvier et février, le ministère de l’énergie américain et ConocoPhillips vont évaluer une technique d’extraction innovante consistant à récupérer le méthane par injection de CO2. Ces hydrates de méthane sont-ils le prochain eldorado des énergies fossiles ? Faut-il craindre l'exploitation de cette ressource non conventionnelle ? Eléments de réponse avec Roland Vially, géologue à l'Institut français du pétrole et des énergies nouvelles (IFPen).

Industrie & Technologies : Qu’est-ce que les hydrates de méthane ?

Roland Vially : L’activité biologique des sols produit en permanence du méthane par décomposition de matières organiques. Dans des conditions de hautes pressions et de très basses températures, ce méthane peut se retrouver piégé sous forme solide dans une cage de glace. Ce sont les hydrates de méthane. Sur Terre, deux types de régions réunissent ces conditions : les couches sédimentaires situées sous les pergélisols arctiques, et les fonds marins constituant l’ultra deep offshore, à partir de 500 mètres de profondeur.

... I&T : Si l’on parvient à exploiter les hydrates, l’épuisement des ressources fossiles, dont on parle tant, n’est donc pas pour demain ?

R.V. : Il faut différencier pétrole et gaz. Alors que l’on parle à raison du fameux peak oil qui marque le lent déclin des ressources pétrolières, en matière de gaz, on continue chaque année à découvrir des gisements. Aller chercher une ressource non conventionnelle comme les hydrates de méthane semble donc, pour le moment, très prospectif. Mais en matière de politique énergétique, d’autres facteurs entrent en jeu, à commencer par l’indépendance énergétique. Il y a dix ans, nul n’aurait envisagé une exploitation massive des gaz de schiste, jugée complexe. Les exemples américain, ou plus près de nous, polonais, montrent à quel point la donne peut changer.

I&T : Après les gaz de schiste, les hydrates de méthane seraient donc le prochain eldorado des énergies fossiles ?

R.V. : Il est toujours délicat de prédire l’avenir. Ils pourraient bien devenir une source d’approvisionnement, mais pas avant l'horizon 2020 à 2030.
(14 February 2012)

http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2 ... oil-feb-18

[energy_isere]

Lancement d' une seconde phase d' étude du METI sur les hydrates de méthanes sous marin.
Les Japonais vont essayer de collecter en continu des hydrates de méthanes l' an prochain, forage en cours.

ethane hydrate production test to start soon

Feb. 07, 2012

TOKYO --The world's first methane hydrate undersea mining and production test will be initiated in the middle of this month offshore from Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Methane hydrate has been receiving attention as a future natural gas resource. Commissioned by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) will conduct the test and collect data over a two-year period toward the practical use of methane hydrate.

Methane hydrate is an ice-like compound in which methane and water molecules are combined. A large amount of methane hydrate is believed to be present in the seabed offshore from Shizuoka and Kagoshima Prefectures.

The production test is the second stage of METI's development program. In this test, methane gas will be produced on a trial basis from the methane hydrate layer beneath the ocean floor 70 to 80 km offshore off the Atsumi Peninsula, Aichi Prefecture. A preliminary drilling operation will be initiated around February 14. Continuous production of methane gas is planned over several weeks in January to March next year.

Ahead of the initiation of mining operations, a mine opening ceremony was held on February 2. Seishu Makino, Senior Vice Minister for METI, spoke at the ceremony and expressed his hope that methane hydrate would be reliable as a domestically-produced energy resource, stating that the Fukushima nuclear accident "made him reaffirm the significance of alternative energy resources."

http://www.shimbun.denki.or.jp/en/news/20120207_01.html

[energy_isere]

Japan to start preparatory drilling for methane hydrate production


NAGOYA (Kyodo) -- Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. continued with arrangements Tuesday to start preparatory drilling for seabed methane hydrate production in the Pacific off Aichi Prefecture in central Japan, officials of the state-controlled company said.

A deep-sea drilling vessel from another state-controlled organization, the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, is currently preparing to start drilling in waters about 1,000 meters deep some 70 to 80 kilometers south of the Atsumi Peninsula, the officials said.

If the company is successful, it would be the world's first seabed methane hydrate production.

The company, whose mission is to provide funds for development of oil, gas and metal resources, plans to launch seabed methane hydrate production tests from January through March 2013.

The Tokyo-based corporation originally planned to launch the drilling by 9 a.m. Tuesday but preparatory work has been delayed due to bad weather and device operation check, the officials said.

The vessel, called "Chikyu" which means Earth, will dig about 260 meters below the seabed and set up four wells.

One of the four wells will be used for methane hydrate production tests and the remaining three will be used to monitor possible changes in the environment, such as temperatures.

Methane hydrate, a sherbet-like substance consisting of methane gas trapped in ice below the seabed or permanently frozen ground, is viewed as a promising next-generation energy source.

Methane hydrate deposits there are estimated at 1 trillion cubic meters, enough for more than 10 years' supply of natural gas consumed in Japan.

The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, which is based in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, says the Chikyu is capable of drilling into the sea floor at a depth of up to 7,000 meters. It measures 210 meters in length and 38 meters in width, and weighs 56,750 gross tons.

(Mainichi Japan) February 14, 2012

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national ... 6000c.html


Le navire Chikyu c' est ceci :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiky%C5%AB

Voir ici également : http://www.ship-technology.com/projects/chikyu/

[krolik]

Si vous voulez suivre la position en directe du Chikyu :
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/fr/def ... =lastknown
Actuellement ancré en forage.
@+

[Tovi]

Une nouvelle technique d'extraction des hydrates de méthane consisterait à injecter du CO2 pour expulser le méthane. Ainsi, la structure hydrologique serait préservée, ainsi que la solidité des sols (ce qui éviterait glissements de terrain et fuites de gaz). Cerise sur le gateau, celà permettrait de stocker le CO2 :

http://thegwpf.org/energy-news/3041-nex ... drate.html

[energy_isere]

Une nouvelle technique d'extraction des hydrates de méthane consisterait à injecter du CO2 pour expulser le méthane. Ainsi, la structure hydrologique serait préservée, ainsi que la solidité des sols (ce qui éviterait glissements de terrain et fuites de gaz). Cerise sur le gateau, celà permettrait de stocker le CO2 :

http://thegwpf.org/energy-news/3041-nex ... drate.html

en effet, voir ce post de Octobre 2011 dans ce méme fil http://forums.oleocene.org/phpBB3/viewt ... 10#p303610

[energy_isere]

Suite du post ci dessus.

Les éssais expérimentaux de production d' hydrates de méthanes dans le projet en Alaska arrivent à donner un flux continu de méthane récupéré.

On est encore loin d' une exploitation commerciale dit l' article.

Alaskan Hydrates Research Project Produces Steady Flow of Gas

June 04, 2012

Research by the US Energy Department (DOE) has found that the injection of a carbon dioxide and nitrogen mixture into a methane hydrate formation on Alaska's North Slope can produce a constant natural gas flow.

According to the DOE, the research breakthrough may lead to the opening of an enormous gas resource to expand even further the massive US gas reserves.

The government department said that the project was the first field test of such a production method for the frozen methane hydrates in the Arctic permafrost and at extreme ocean depths. It said, however, that it will be years before such production can become economically feasible.

A significant body of gas hydrate research has been developed since 1972 when the world's first gas hydrate test well was drilled on the North Slope of Alaska.

The discovery of several large gas hydrate accumulations in the area of the Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk River and Milne Point oil fields on the North Slope, which may contain as much as 100trillion cubic feet of in-place gas, have heightened interest in gas hydrates as a potential energy resource.

However, according to the US Geological Survey, none of these gas hydrate accumulations have been adequately tested to determine how much commercially viable gas actually can be produced from the gas hydrates.

Furthermore, extraction techniques do not yet exist that have been demonstrated practical for commercial scale production. Although Northern Alaska gas-in-place resource estimates for hydrates are large, hydrates are still an unconventional resource and research is still needed to understand what portion of those resources are technically and economically viable.

US energy secretary Steven Chu said of the latest research results: "While this is just the beginning, this research could potentially yield significant new supplies of natural gas."

The US DOE is undertaking methane hydrate production research in cooperation with ConocoPhillips and Japan Oil, Gas & Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC). It has committed $6.5 million to this year's project and another $5 million for continued research next year. Japan has an extensive gas hydrates program, hence the JOGMEC involvement.

As part of President Obama's budget proposal for 2013, the department is requesting an additional $5million for gas hydrates research both domestically and in collaboration with international partners. That could include a longer test of extraction in the North Slope, which would again require work with private-sector and international partners.

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=118355

[energy_isere]

Article de Nature du jour: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v4 ... 11374.html

Des milliers de milliards de tonnes d'accumulations de matiéres organiques en profondeur en Antarctique , ce qui pourrait conduire à des formations colossales d' hydrates de méthanes en Antarctique !

Potential methane reservoirs beneath Antarctica

J. L. Wadham,
S. Arndt,
S. Tulaczyk,
M. Stibal,
M. Tranter,
J. Telling,
G. P. Lis,
E. Lawson,
A. Ridgwell,
A. Dubnick,
M. J. Sharp,
A. M. Anesio
& C. E. H. Butler

Once thought to be devoid of life, the ice-covered parts of Antarctica are now known to be a reservoir of metabolically active microbial cells and organic carbon1. The potential for methanogenic archaea to support the degradation of organic carbon to methane beneath the ice, however, has not yet been evaluated. Large sedimentary basins containing marine sequences up to 14 kilometres thick2 and an estimated 21,000 petagrams (1 Pg equals 10^15 g) of organic carbon are buried beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet. No data exist for rates of methanogenesis in sub-Antarctic marine sediments. Here we present experimental data from other subglacial environments that demonstrate the potential for overridden organic matter beneath glacial systems to produce methane. We also numerically simulate the accumulation of methane in Antarctic sedimentary basins using an established one-dimensional hydrate model3 and show that pressure/temperature conditions favour methane hydrate formation down to sediment depths of about 300 metres in West Antarctica and 700 metres in East Antarctica. Our results demonstrate the potential for methane hydrate accumulation in Antarctic sedimentary basins, where the total inventory depends on rates of organic carbon degradation and conditions at the ice-sheet bed. We calculate that the sub-Antarctic hydrate inventory could be of the same order of magnitude as that of recent estimates made for Arctic permafrost. Our findings suggest that the Antarctic Ice Sheet may be a neglected but important component of the global methane budget, with the potential to act as a positive feedback on climate warming during ice-sheet wastage.

[Pura Vida]

Quand-même, grande prudence à observer:

http://www.journaldunet.com/economie/en ... hane.shtml

[energy_isere]

Le programme d' exploration Japonais évoqué plus haut se réalise :

Forage sous 1000 m d' eau puis 300 m de sol, pour atteindre une couche d' hydrate de méthane.
Ils vont essayer de produire 10 000 m3 de méthane par jour pendant 2 semaines. (ca n'est pas énorme comme quantité).

World’s first methane hydrate mining to begin off central Japan coast

February 4, 2013

The Japanese government has revealed that its Japan Oil, Gas, and Metals National Corp. has dispatched a mining ship that will begin the world’s first offshore test to excavate methane hydrate from the seabed. As a potential new energy source, the search for methane hydrate will take place in the eastern Nankai Trough, roughly 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) off Aichi Prefecture‘s Atsumi Peninsula, in central Japan.

The oil, gas, and metal company’s deep-sea drilling ship Chikyu set sail last week for an offshore well that drilled last year. Measuring 1,000 meters (0.6 miles) deep, the well reaches a 300 meter (980 feet) layer of methane hydrate under the seabed, where the testing is to take place. Also known as “burning ice,” there has been much attention on methane hydrate as a new plentiful natural fuel resource.

The next step will involve inserting a large pipe down into the well in order to separate methane hydrate into methane gas and water. If everything goes smoothly, and there are no delays in scheduling, the extraction will begin in March seeing the removal of as much as 10,000 cubic meters of gas per day over a two-week period. Estimates say that Japan’s coastal waters hold nearly 100 times the amount of natural gas that the country uses per year, and the government’s Industry Ministry plans to eventually survey the Sea of Japan for methane hydrate.

http://japandailypress.com/worlds-first ... st-0422630

[energy_isere]

Deux ans jour pour jour après la destruction de la centrale de Fukushima Daiichi , le gouvernement va entamer aujourd'hui, aux larges de ses côtes, la prospection de gisements d'hydrates de méthane, communément appelées «la glace qui brûle», avec l'espoir de mettre à jour une nouvelle source d'énergie pour alimenter le pays.

Un navire d'exploration affrété par la Jogmec (Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp) et le ministère de l'Industrie va procéder, dans le sous-sol de la fosse marine de Nankai, aux premiers tests de production des ces hydrates de méthane, composés de glace et de gaz naturel résultant de la décomposition de matières organiques.


Navire de prospection de la Jogmec

http://www.lesechos.fr/economie-politiq ... 545833.php

[Phili2pe]

Japon: extraction sous-marine de gaz

Des chercheurs japonais ont réussi mardi pour la première fois à extraire des fonds sous-marins du gaz d'hydrates de méthane, une ressource parfois appelée "la glace qui brûle" qui pourrait sauver le Japon de la pénurie énergétique.