Prospects of Solid Fluidization for Natural Gas Hydrate Development in South China Sea via SWOT Analysis

Solid fluidization is a new method to extract natural gas hydrate (NGH) out of theburied sediments, which is characterized by collecting hydrate resources in solid state first and decomposing into fluid later. Combining both the merits of traditional mineral and petroleum developments, solid fluidization can obtain the new supply fuel without a series of security risks caused by hydrate disorder phase transitions. In this paper, the strength, weakness, opportunity and threaten of solid fluidization are discussed respectively by SWOT analysis, then the related application prospect for NGH development in South China Sea is obtained. It is indicated that solid fluidization is one of the most suitable development method for the geological characteristics like loose, weak cementation of NGH-bearing sedimentary reservoir in South China Sea. However, there are also some application limits such as weak theoretical foundation, immature technical system and urgent improvement need of mining capacity. Grasping the global energy structure transformation tide and responding to the technology challenges actively, solid fluidization is believed to become the one of the core optimization methods for commercial marine NGH development in the future, especially in South China Sea.