Analyzing spatially and temporally visualized formation behavior of methane hydrate in unconsolidated porous media

Abstract An understanding of the nucleation and growth mechanism of methane hydrate in porous space is essential for exploitation and application of hydrates, but the mechanism is yet to be clarified. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was employed to visually analyze the spatial and temporal formation behavior of methane hydrate in a porous media. Detailed information about the water distribution, initial nucleation sites, and hydrate growth was obtained, in addition to MRI images. The results demonstrated that the water molecules distributed in the vertical direction preferred the middle slice of a porous medium sample, and the decrease in the number of molecules in the middle slice and on both sides of the slice was similar during hydrate formation. The formation process are quite different in selected horizontal slices, which were contributed to the various distribution of water and gas in pore spaces and the randomness of methane hydrate formation. The extension of these predicted results could have important implications for optimizing the formation processes of gas hydrate in hydrate-based technologies.