1. Exploring and Monitoring of Methane Hydrate Deposits
- Author
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Jasmina Obhodas, Karlo Nad, Davorin Sudac, and Vladivoj Valkovic
- Subjects
Nuclear and High Energy Physics ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,QC1-999 ,Earth science ,Geochemistry ,Climate change ,chemistry.chemical_element ,010501 environmental sciences ,010502 geochemistry & geophysics ,Permafrost ,01 natural sciences ,Methane ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,fast neutrons ,Electrical and Electronic Engineering ,Quartz ,associated alpha particle imaging ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Physics ,methane hydrate and hydrocarbon energy sources ,Sediment ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,Nuclear Energy and Engineering ,chemistry ,040103 agronomy & agriculture ,0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries ,Environmental science ,Imaging technique ,Water ice ,Energy source ,Hydrate ,Carbon ,Earth (classical element) - Abstract
Relatively recently, in the last 20 years, it was discovered that methane hydrate (MH) deposits are globally distributed in the permafrost and oceans. Before 1965 when first deposits were discovered in nature, it was believed that MH can occur only in laboratory conditions or in vast parts of the Universe. Presently it is presumed that this solid crystalline compounds in which CH4 molecules occupies the water ice lattices (nominal chemical formula of MH is C4H62O23) can serve as an energy source favorably to the all of the world remaining conventional hydrocarbon sources. The worldwide estimates of MH deposits range from 2x1014 m3 to 3.053x1018 cubic meters. This uncertainty partly results from our limitations in geological understanding of the MH deposits, which is due to the relatively bad quality of data obtained by presently available seismic and electromagnetic techniques. Moreover, MH deposits can become vulnerable to climate changes, which were already occurring in geological past whit tremendous consequences for the global life on Earth. Thus, further development of advanced techniques is needed to enhance our abilities to better characterize, quantify and monitor the MH deposits. In the work presented 14 MeV neutrons and associated alpha particle imaging (API) where used to quantify the amount of MH in the sample. Samples were prepared from sea sediment, quartz sand and MH simulant. MH simulant with chemical formula C4H46O23 was made from sucrose (25 % by mass) and water. MH quantity was measured by measuring the carbon content in the sample [1-8].
- Published
- 2018
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