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| Titel |
Heat production in depth up to 2500m via in situ combustion of methane using a counter-current heat-exchange reactor |
| VerfasserIn |
Judith Maria Schicks, Erik Spangenberg, Ronny Giese, Katja Heeschen, Mike Priegnitz, Manja Luzi-Helbing, Jan Thaler, Sven Abendroth, Jens Klump |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2014
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 16 (2014) |
| Datensatznummer |
250089583
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2014-3790.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| In situ combustion is a well-known method used for exploitation of unconventional oil
deposits such as heavy oil/bitumen reservoirs where the required heat is produced directly
within the oil reservoir by combustion of a small percentage of the oil. A new application of
in situ combustion for the production of methane from hydrate-bearing sediments was tested
at pilot plant scale within the first phase of the German national gas hydrate project SUGAR.
The applied method of in situ combustion was a flameless, catalytic oxidation of CH4 in a
counter-current heat-exchange reactor with no direct contact between the catalytic reaction
zone and the reservoir. The catalyst permitted a flameless combustion of CH4 with air to CO2
and H2O below the auto-ignition temperature of CH4 in air (868 K) and outside the
flammability limits. This led to a double secured application of the reactor. The relatively
low reaction temperature allowed the use of cost-effective standard materials for
the reactor and prevented NOx formation. Preliminary results were promising and
showed that only 15% of the produced CH4 was needed to be catalytically burned
to provide enough heat to dissociate the hydrates in the environment and release
CH4.
The location of the heat source right within the hydrate-bearing sediment is a
major advantage for the gas production from natural gas hydrates as the heat is
generated where it is needed without loss of energy due to transportation. As part of the
second period of the SUGAR project the reactor prototype of the first project phase
was developed further to a borehole tool. The dimensions of this counter-current
heat-exchange reactor are about 540 cm in length and 9 cm in diameter. It is designed for
applications up to depths of 2500 m. A functionality test and a pressure test of the
reactor were successfully carried out in October 2013 at the continental deep drilling
site (KTB) in Windischeschenbach, Germany, in 600 m depth and 2000 m depth,
respectively.
In this study we present technical details of the reactor, the catalyst and potential fields of
application beside the production of natural gas from hydrate bearing sediments. |
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