Electrical properties of methane hydrate + sediment mixtures
Fire in the Ice: NETL Methane Hydrate Newsletter
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Abstract
As part of our DOE-funded proposal to characterize gas hydrate in the Gulf of Mexico using marine electromagnetic methods, a collaboration between SIO, LLNL, and USGS with the goal of measuring the electrical properties of lab-created methane (CH4) hydrate and sediment mixtures was formed. We examined samples with known characteristics to better relate electrical properties measured in the field to specific gas hydrate concentration and distribution patterns. Here we discuss first-ever electrical conductivity (σ) measurements on unmixed CH4 hydrate (Du Frane et al., 2011): 6 x 10-5 S/m at 5 °C, which is ~5 orders of magnitude lower than seawater. This difference allows electromagnetic (EM) techniques to distinguish highly resistive gas hydrate deposits from conductive water saturated sediments in EM field surveys. More recently, we performed measurements on CH4 hydrate mixed with sediment and we also discuss those initial findings here. Our results on samples free of liquid water are important for predicting conductivity of sediments with pores highly saturated with gas hydrate, and are an essential starting point for comprehensive mixing models.
Suggested Citation
Du Frane, W.L., Stern, L.A., Weitemeyer, K.A., Constable, S., Roberts, J.J., 2011, Electrical properties of methane hydrate + sediment mixtures: Fire in the Ice: NETL Methane Hydrate Newsletter, v. 11, no. 2, p. 10-13.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Electrical properties of methane hydrate + sediment mixtures |
| Series title | Fire in the Ice: NETL Methane Hydrate Newsletter |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Year Published | 2011 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | U.S. Department of Energy |
| Contributing office(s) | Earthquake Science Center |
| Description | 4 p. |
| Larger Work Type | Article |
| Larger Work Subtype | Journal Article |
| Larger Work Title | Fire in the Ice |
| First page | 10 |
| Last page | 13 |