A review on simulation of methane production from gas hydrate reservoirs: Molecular dynamics prospective

Hydrate reservoirs have steadily emerged as an important contributor in energy storage. To better understand the role of hydrates in gas production, it is vital to know the challenges related to the hydrate dissociation. To highlight the main technical challenges, further research and engineering investigations are needed for interactions between the molecules, phase behaviours, and detailed mechanisms of hydrate formation and dissociation. This review paper describes the gas hydrate reservoirs, hydrate dissociation, and previous research works related to gas engineering. This study briefly presents the key theoretical concepts and drawbacks of different techniques/kinetics of decomposition; consisting of depressurising, thermal stimulation, chemical injection, and gas swapping. This will be followed by the theory on the molecular dynamics simulation and its application in various decomposition methods. Owing to the limitations of existing experimental and theoretical approaches, development of more accurate theoretical models and equations of state (EOSs) is inevitable. The molecular dynamics simulation strategy has been used as a strong research tool with adequately small scales in both space and time. The practical implication of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation in hydrate dissociation methods is illustrated at the end of this study for further clarification. The complex nature of hydrates clearly implies that new potential functions for current MD tools are required to satisfactorily comprehend the hydrate molecular structure and mechanisms of hydrate decomposition.