Stabilized unified multi-physics framework for methane hydrate production
Computers and Geotechnics, 202:108567, 2027.
Summary
This study develops a finite element framework for methane hydrate extraction that combines flexible multiphysics coupling with numerical stabilization. Different combinations of thermal, hydraulic, mechanical, and chemical processes can be activated across geological regions and production stages. To address pressure oscillations under nearly incompressible conditions, the method enriches an edge-based smoothed finite element displacement field with bubble functions. Streamline upwind Petrov–Galerkin stabilization addresses oscillations associated with convection-dominated transport. A mixed explicit–implicit solution updates porosity and phase saturations explicitly while solving displacement, pressure, and temperature implicitly, reducing the size of the nonlinear system. Benchmark tests and reservoir-scale applications examine the resulting predictions. The examples identify temperature as an important control on hydrate dissociation and explore the combined effects of depressurization and heating. The framework supports production studies in which extraction efficiency and reservoir deformation must be assessed together.