EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF HYDRAULIC FRACTURING IN A PENNY-SHAPED CRACKED FOR FROZEN SAND AND HYDRATE-BEARING SAND USING UN-PROPPED AND NON-VISCOUS LIQUID

Abstract

Hydrate-bearing sand (HBS) is a potential source of energy, in which solid methane hydrate is dissociated to produce methane gas. Hydrates are only stable under high pressure and low temperature. This study draws the motivation to improve the surface area for hydrate to dissociate by creating artificial fracture. Hence, this work examines the susceptibility of hydrate-bearing sand to fracture. It is done using hydraulic fracturing in a penny-shaped crack approach. It was first validated by using frozen sand, in which the hydraulic fracturing approach and standard test was conducted. Then, this approach was applied onto the synthetic HBS with hydrate saturations of 50 to 75 % under high pressure and low temperature conditions. The results observed visual crack appearing on boundary of the specimen with a net maximum pressure recorded during the hydraulic fracturing. The results indicated that HBS may form a cementing structure when the hydrate saturation was above 50 %.