Extraction of Methane Gas Hydrate Using Thermal Reservoir Waters from Underlying “Donor Reservoirs” as a Coolant

The constant increase in energy consumption in the world, while reducing hydrocarbon resources, requires the search for alternative energy sources. One of such potential and environmentally friendly energy sources of the future is methane from gas hydrate deposits. The shallow depths, large reserves, and widespread occurrence of gas hydrate deposits in the near-surface layers of the lithosphere make it possible to consider gas hydrate deposits as the most promising source of methane. The scientific, technical and patent analysis has shown that the proposed technologies for the development of gas hydrate deposits and the extraction of methane hydrate are complex and expensive, and due to the lack of extensive practical experience, there are isolated cases of the use of a particular technology. Depending on the nature of the factor affecting the deposit, the methods are divided into groups: physical (temperature, pressure); chemical (chemical reagents); physico-chemical (complex effects). The article proposes to consider a new patented technology and device for extracting methane from sedimentary rocks with gas hydrate inclusions, developed at Tyumen Industrial University. The proposed technology is energy-saving, since it does not require energy consumption for heating to extract gas from gas hydrates. According to the proposed technology, the effect of reservoir high-temperature waters from the underlying horizons is applied. The well design according to this technology has the main trunk of the “mother” well, which opens the reservoir - a donor of thermal waters and a side trunk with a length of several hundred meters, which opens the gas hydrate deposit. Reservoir water circulation is carried out due to the energy (reservoir pressure) of the donor reservoir and an electric centrifugal pump installed in the production column, programmed for intelligent operation with the possibility of optimized extraction of a certain volume of the gas–liquid mixture.