60 DECEMBER 2024 WorldWide Drilling Resource® For more information, call 480-609-3993 info@mountainstatesgroundwater.com mountainstatesgroundwater.com \ Seminars \ Exhibits \ Raffles \ Networking Opportunities \ Buck Lively Scholarship Auction Cracking a Wildcatter's Riddle Adapted from Information by Texas Tech University As far back as 60 years ago, oilmen began noticing their gas pipelines were being plugged by ice-like crystals even though temperatures had not dropped below freezing. Decades later, scientists know they aren’t dealing with ice at all; the substance is actually a gas hydrate, or a crystallized compound formed of water molecules and another substance, gas. Though scientists have labored to eliminate or reduce this phenomenon, gas hydrates remain an expensive thorn in the side of producers and have perplexed researchers. Drill operators take a risk every time they go delving for the vast stores of natural gas along certain parts of U.S. shorelines, including the Gulf of Mexico. In those cold depths, eye-popping pressures and frigid temperatures create a catalyst for gas hydrates, which form around water molecules in the pipes and trap the gas in a veritable ice cage. Most of these blockages form so deep, they can only be reached by remote submersibles. Producers combat this by pumping methanol into wellheads to absorb water, keeping the hydrates from forming, but this is costly and inefficient. “Where and how hydrates form is still unclear,” said Dr. Waylon House. “Many people are interested in how to predict and prevent them.” House, an associate professor of petroleum engineering at Texas Tech, has turned to technology primarily used in medicine to deal with the challenge. Working with researchers at Rice University, he is using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to predict hydrate formation in black oil emulsions. “Knowing when and why the hydrates form is a better way to combat them,” House said. There are certain oils that do not form hydrates for instance, and scientists are still unsure about the exact point at which they form. House began using the MRI technology because traditional hydrate study methods are stymied in black oil, which does not allow light through it and makes pressure testing difficult. Using this, House hopes to crack this wildcatter’s riddle for good. G&O
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