LAUSR

Abstract Numerous experimental studies have shown that hydrate dissociation can result in significant strength reduction leading to sediment failure and unconsolidated flow behavior. In this work, a constitutive model for the effective permeability is developed that is capable of accurately modeling the evolution of permeability in hydrate reservoirs exhibiting unconsolidated behavior. A production phase that promotes sand production from an unconsolidated hydrate reservoir will result in a significant increase in permeability, such that the reservoir essentially behaves like a naturally fracking reservoir. Furthermore, installation of a sand screen to prevent sand production will throttle gas production due to the significant decrease in permeability as solids accumulate and compact at the sand screen. Our model was developed and verified using experimental data from the Mallik 2007/2008 production tests and can be applied in simulations of the coupled hydrodynamics, heat transfer, mass transfer, and geomechanics in the unconsolidated hydrate reservoir.