Several Factors on Mechanical Property of Methane Hydrate

Abstract

Although there has been considerable research on the physical chemical properties of methane hydrate the mechanical properties have yet to be fully investigated. It is important to know these properties in order to allow the extraction of this material under stable conditions. Thus the work described in this paper was aimed at determining the mechanical properties of this material under varying conditions. In order to do this low temperature, high pressure triaxial equipment was developed. Triaxial teste with controlled temperature, confining pressure, strain speed and hydrate content have been carried out on artificial samples of methane hydrate to determine the mechanical properties for the purpose of studying extraction methods and related stability problems. The results confirm that the strength of methane hydrate tends to increase with increasing confining pressure, decreasing temperature, increasing strain speed and increasing hydrate content.