U.S. patent application number 11/286138 was filed with the patent office on 2007-05-24 for method and apparatus for extracting gas hydrate deposits.
This patent application is currently assigned to GAS HYDRATES CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Thomas A. La Rovere, Homer L. Spencer.
Application Number | 20070114026 11/286138 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38052350 |
Filed Date | 2007-05-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070114026 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
La Rovere; Thomas A. ; et
al. |
May 24, 2007 |
Method and apparatus for extracting gas hydrate deposits
Abstract
An apparatus and method for disassociating natural gas from a
deposit of natural gas hydrates and producing natural gas. A
reactor module is located downhole in a heating and injection well.
Water is provided to the reactor module where it is heated and a
solvent is injected into the water prior to heating. The heated
water and solvent passes to the deposit of natural gas hydrates
where the natural gas is disassociated under the influence of the
heat from the reactor module.
Inventors: |
La Rovere; Thomas A.; (Santa
Barbara, CA) ; Spencer; Homer L.; (Calgary,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
John Russell Uren, P. Eng.;Suite 202
1590 Bellevue Avenue
West Vancouver
BC
V7V 1A7
CA
|
Assignee: |
GAS HYDRATES CORPORATION
|
Family ID: |
38052350 |
Appl. No.: |
11/286138 |
Filed: |
November 23, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
166/272.7 ;
166/272.6; 166/302; 166/57 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E21B 43/2401 20130101;
E21B 41/0099 20200501 |
Class at
Publication: |
166/272.7 ;
166/302; 166/272.6; 166/057 |
International
Class: |
E21B 43/24 20060101
E21B043/24 |
Claims
1. A method of extracting natural gas from a deposit of natural gas
hydrates, said method comprising supplying water to said deposit of
said natural gas hydrates, heating said water supplied to said
deposit of natural gas hydrates and flooding said deposit of said
natural gas hydrates to disassociate said natural gas hydrates in
order to recover said natural gas and the water from said
disassociation of said natural gas hydrates, said natural gas and
said water migrating from said deposit of natural gas hydrates to
an area of lower pressure being production casing.
2. A method as in claim 1 wherein a solvent is added to said water
supplied to said deposit of said natural gas hydrates.
3. A method as in claim 1 wherein said heated water is injected
into said deposit of said natural gas hydrates from a vertical, a
deviated or a horizontal casing.
4. A method as in claim 2 wherein said solvent is methanol or
ethylene glycol.
5. A method as in claim 1 wherein said water is heated by a reactor
module located within a heating well having casing, said water
supplied to said deposit of gas hydrates being heated by said
reactor module.
6. A method as in claim 5 wherein said reactor module further heats
said casing of said heating well.
7. Apparatus for heating a deposit of gas hydrates to disassociate
said gas hydrates and obtain natural gas comprising a reactor
module located within casing of a heating well, a water injector to
supply water to said reactor module and a heater within said
reactor module to heat said water supplied to said reactor module
and to inject said heated water into said deposit of gas
hydrates.
8. Apparatus as in claim 7 and further comprising an injector for a
solvent to be added to said water supplied to said reactor
module.
9. Apparatus as in claim 8 wherein said reactor module provides
heat by either induction or by resistive heating.
10. Method of heating a deposit of natural gas hydrates comprising
positioning an induction tool in downhole well casing and
generating an induction flux in said tool to excite and heat said
well casing and said deposit of natural gas hydrates.
11. Method as in claim 10 wherein at least two induction tools are
positioned in locations within said deposit of natural gas
hydrates.
12. Apparatus as in claim 7 and further comprising a bladder to
seal said reactor module within said well casing.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] Natural gas hydrate deposits are known to exist in numerous
regions in great quantities in the world and contain many times the
known producible reserves of conventional natural gas. Natural gas
hydrates are crystals of principally methane within a lattice of
water molecules and are formed naturally under conditions of low
temperature and high pressure. The deposits can generally can be
reached using conventional well drilling and well completion
technology. However, heating and disassociating such deposits to
release the trapped natural gas is a problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0002] According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided
a method of extracting natural gas from a deposit of natural gas
hydrates, said method comprising supplying water to said deposit of
said natural gas hydrates, heating said water supplied to said
deposit of natural gas hydrates and flooding said deposit of said
natural gas hydrates to disassociate said natural gas hydrates in
order to recover said natural gas and the water from said
disassociation of said natural gas hydrates, said natural gas and
said water migrating from said deposit of natural gas hydrates to
an area of lower pressure being production casing.
[0003] According to a further aspect of the invention, there is
provided apparatus for heating a deposit of gas hydrates to
disassociate said gas hydrates and obtain natural gas comprising a
reactor module located within casing of a heating well, a water
injector to supply water to said reactor module and a heater within
said reactor module to heat said water supplied to said reactor
module and to inject said heated water into said deposit of gas
hydrates.
[0004] According to yet a further aspect of the invention, there is
provided a method of heating a deposit of natural gas hydrates
comprising positioning an induction tool in downhole well casing
and generating an induction flux in said tool to excite and heat
said well casing and said deposit of natural gas hydrates.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described,
by way of example only, with the use of drawings in which:
[0006] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic layout illustrating the overall
technique for extraction of the natural gases from the natural gas
hydrate formation; and
[0007] FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of a plurality of
injector and heating wells drilled about the boundaries of a
natural gas hydrate formation.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT
[0008] Referring now to the drawings, a natural gas hydrate
formation is generally illustrated at 100. The formation may be
located at relatively shallow or relatively deep depth and
conventional well drilling and well completion is sufficient to
reach the formation 100.
[0009] A production well 101 is drilled and put into operation
using conventional technology. A horizontal portion 102 extends
into the gas hydrate formation 100 and a perforated production
liner 103 is installed at the retrieval area of the natural gas
hydrate formation 100. A pump 122 is located downhole in the
production well 101 for the purpose of pumping the water produced
from the disassociation of gas hydrates to the surface 111. Natural
gas from the dissociated hydrate flows to the surface within the
production casing where a compressor (not illustrated) is located
to compress and transport the recovered gas.
[0010] A second drill hole, namely an injection and heating well is
generally illustrated at 104. It extends from the surface 111
substantially vertically in a vertical portion 112 and terminates
at the end of a horizontal portion 113. A water injection unit 120
and a water tank 121 are located on the surface 111 and act to
provide water and a polar solvent such as methanol or ethylene
glycol solvent for injection into the injection and heating well
104. The use of solvent prevents the re-association of the water
and the natural gas into hydrates causing blockage of
production.
[0011] A reactive module according to the invention is generally
illustrated at 114. It is located within the horizontal portion 113
of the heating and injection well 104. The reactive module 114
takes the form generally illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,384,389,
the contents of which are incorporated by reference. The reactive
module 114 has a hollow bore and in a first embodiment, it is
inductively powered; that is, it projects electromagnetic flux
outwardly to optimally heat the steel well casing 123 of the
injection and heating well 104. A hydraulic pump 124 is provided
within the reactor module 114 which hydraulic pump 124 utilizes a
motor driven piston contained within a cylinder. The hydraulic pump
124 provides pressure to a bladder 130 which seals the reactor
module 114 within the well casing 123 as will be described.
Telemetry and control electronics are provided within the reactor
module 114 to monitor various sensors and transducers embedded
within the reactor module 114 which sensors and transducers are
used to measure process variables such as downhole temperatures and
pressures, as well as to control actuation of the reactor module
114, the hydraulic pump 124, the bladder or seal 130, the fluid
removal pump 122 and the methanol injection process taking place in
the water injection unit 120. A DC to AC inverter is provided to
supply power to the reactor module 114.
[0012] The downhole tooling used to install and operate the reactor
module 114 includes centralizers (not illustrated) to maintain the
reactor module 114 centrally located within the injection and
heating well 113 as is known and the reactor module 114 is
supported by tubing (not illustrated) supplied from the topside
tube spool as is also known. The tubing incorporates a high
pressure tube for the supply of solvent, a fluid extraction tube
for extraction of fluids, a power cable and a data telemetry cable
all as is known. The topside tubing spool will further include the
necessary electrical and fluid slip rings to interface the downhole
tool with the topside subsystems used to process the downhole
data.
[0013] A power control unit(PCU) (not illustrated) controls three
phase power to high voltage DC power to be supplied to operate the
reactor module 114. The PCU provides an operator interface and the
control logic.
[0014] The gas extraction system used by the production well 101
enhances the separation of the natural gas from the water flowing
from the production well 101. The gas extracted from the gas
hydrate formation to the surface 111 is then compressed for storage
and/or transport.
[0015] A fluid separator subsystem (not illustrated) separates
water and solvent fluid pumped out of the production well 101. The
water is collected for recycling to the solvent mixing systems,
with excess water going to disposal. Recovered solvent plus the
addition of any required make-up is mixed with water to an optimal
concentration and re-injected into the injection and heating well
112.
OPERATION
[0016] Using the downhole tooling previously described, the reactor
module 114 is deployed to its initial operating position within the
horizontal portion 113 of the injection and heating well 104. The
operation of the hydraulic pump 124 is initiated and the bladder or
seal 130 is inflated in order to provide a pressure seal between
the reactor module 114 and the casing 123. The reactor module 114
is powered on to heat the well casing 123 and the injected
solvent/water mixture causing the hydrate within the gas hydrate
formation to disassociate into a two phase gas and fluid mixture.
Hot water permeates the formation causing the hydrates and water to
migrate to the lower pressure perforated production liner 103.
Water within the casing is pumped to the surface 113 by pump 122.
Solvent is injected into the water being supplied to the injection
and heating well 104 from injection unit 120. The injected
solvent/water mixture may be partially or completely vaporized by
the heat generated by the reactor modules thus forming a high
pressure vapor "cloud" which emanates from the injection liner 131.
The vapor "cloud" expands the heating zone further into the gas
hydrate formation 100 which contributes further to the
disassociation of the gas hydrates resulting in increasing amounts
of natural gas being passed to the low pressure zone of the
perforated production liner 103 and into the production well 101
where it passes to the surface 113.
[0017] The reactor module 114 is moved along the horizontal portion
102 of the heating and injection well 104. Prior to movement, the
bladder or seal 130 is deflated to allow for movement of the
reactor module 114 and when the new operating position of the
reactor module 114 is reached, the bladder or seal 130 is inflated
to provide a new seal between the reactor module 114 and the casing
123. As the movement of the reactor module 114 takes place, the
heated zone within the gas hydrates formation is increased and
expanded to disassociate the gas hydrates and thereby to contribute
to more complete natural gas flow to the production well 101.
[0018] While the reactor module 114 has been illustrated and
described in a horizontal portion of the injection and heating well
104, it is apparent that the benefits of the invention would also
apply equally to the reactor module 114 being deployed in a
vertical well or a slant well. Thus, the reactor module 114 may be
deployed and operated in an injection and heating well of virtually
any configuration.
[0019] Many further modifications in the invention will readily
occur to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates
and the specific embodiments described herein should be taken as
illustrative of the invention only and not as limiting its scope as
defined in accordance with the accompanying claims.
* * * * *