Numerical solutions of the problem of gas hydrate formation upon injection of gas into a porous medium partly saturated by ice
In the framework of the methods and equations of the mechanics of multiphase media, a mathematical model is constructed for the formation of gas hydrate during the injection of methane into a reservoir of finite length saturated with methane and ice. The problem under study is reduced to the problem of finding two moving boundaries of phase transitions. Based on the method of catching the front in the node of the spatial grid, numerical solutions of the problem are obtained. The distributions along the spatial coordinate of temperature, pressure, and hydrate saturation are found, and the time evolution of the coordinates of the phase transition boundaries is given. Analysis of the results of computational experiments has shown that the formation of methane gas hydrate can occur both at the frontal boundary and in the extended zone. It has been established that part of the gas hydrate formed in the extended region can be further decomposed into gas and water. In this case, the extended region of hydrate formation will degenerate into the frontal surface.