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An artificial sample of methane hydrate, an ice-like substance consisting of water and methane molecules, was obtained in the Oil and Gas Laboratory, FEFU School of Engineering. The experiment was conducted by FEFU students to study the properties of this alternative source of hydrocarbons. Currently, only a few universities are conducting such studies in Russia.

Experts note that studying the properties of gas hydrates is very promising. It is estimated that the amount of gas in gas hydrate deposits on the shelf and in permafrost zones is about 20 times larger than the volume of traditional hydrocarbons (oil and natural gas) and can potentially meet the needs of the world industry for more than 100 years ahead. But the known technologies for developing gas hydrate deposits are very expensive, and special studies are needed to commercialize them.

FEFU young researchers have started practical studies of gas hydrates in 2017. A sample of gas hydrate was obtained under laboratory conditions by the method of conversion of finely dispersed ice dust. The conversion process takes place at a pressure of up to 250 atmospheres, a temperature range of -10 °C to +10 °C, and takes about 22 hours. As a result, a hydrate was obtained, identical to its natural form—a substance resembling strongly compressed snow. It can be held in the hand as a piece of ice, and the resulting decomposition of the substance is accompanied by the release of methane, which burns like dry fuel.

A group of students from the Department of Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Industry participated in the experiment: Andrei Zhuravlev, Pavel Osmolovsky, and Anton Pichugov.

“The possibilities of using hydrates are very diverse, for example, in the form of gas hydrates, it is possible to store and transport gas. The technique used allows us to produce methane hydrates, while reducing the volume occupied by the gas 160 times. I think this is a promising way, because the known technologies of compression and liquefaction of natural gas are much more complicated and expensive,” Pavel Osmolovsky said.

“The study of gas hydrates is also very relevant in terms of climate change,” said Andrei Zhuravlev. “If the gas hydrates in the permafrost are destroyed, and the entire volume of methane is released into the atmosphere, an environmental disaster will occur on Earth.”

After obtaining the first sample of the gas hydrate, students began an analytical part: measuring the amount of gas that is emitted from the sample and studying its strength characteristics. According to Yuri Em, the Head of the FEFU Oil and Gas Laboratory, the final objectives of these studies are more extensive and involve a comprehensive exploration of an alternative source of hydrocarbons: methods of monitoring (intensification or deceleration) of hydrate formation, and searching for the most cost-effective methods of developing gas hydrate deposits.

The laboratory of the FEFU Department of Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Industry is equipped with a complex of equipment from VINCI Technologies, which allows one to conduct oil and gas reservoir studies and specimen analyses. The principal investigator of the laboratory is Professor Alexander Gulkov, Doctor of Engineering, the Head of the Department of Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Industry.