Modeling of gas hydrate-bearing sediments and case studies: Geomechanical aspects

The geomechanical behavior of gas hydrate-bearing sediments is strongly coupled to the other processes involved in the behavior of gas hydrates. Consequently, any reliable numerical simulation requires a proper coupling of all thermo–hydro–mechanical–chemical (THMC) processes involved with gas hydrates. This chapter focuses on the geomechanical characteristics of gas hydrate-bearing sediments and on the methods by which they can be represented, and coupled numerically for complete THMC simulations. It presents a general, but unique, characterization of gas hydrate-bearing sediments, followed by both continuum-based and discrete-based approaches for modeling the mechanical behavior of these materials. The continuum-based approach is then incorporated into a fully coupled THMC simulator and used for simulation of a real field gas production test.