Gas Hydrate Testing

 At GDS we have developed a range of Gas Hydrate testing systems for a range of our triaxial systems and resonant column. All systems allow for gaseous back pressures, such as methane, carbon dioxide or nitrogen to be controlled at high pressures (up to 25MPa), combined with temperatures down to -20 degrees C.  This is the necessary environment to both grow and test gas hydrates in the laboratory. See below for a list of references all using GDS Gas Hydrate Testing systems.


Products for Gas Hydrate Testing



References using GDS Gas Hydrate System


Priest, J.A. Clayton, C.R.I. and Rees, E.V.L. (2014)
'Potential impact of gas hydrate and its dissociation on the strength of host sediment in the Krishna-Godavari Basin'
Marine and Petroleum Geology
Best, A.I., Priest, J.A., Clayton, C.R.I. and Rees, E.V.L. (2013)
'The effect of methane hydrate morphology and water saturation on seismic wave attenuation in sand under shallow sub-seafloor conditions'
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 27 February 2013
Rees E.V.L, Priest J. A., Clayton C. R. I., (2011)
'The structure of methane gas hydrate bearing sediments from the Krishna-Godavari Basin as seen from micro-CT scanning'
Marine and Petroleum Geology, 28, 1283-1293
Clayton, C.R.I. (2011)
'Stiffness at small strain: research and practice'
50th Rankine Lecture, Geotechnique, 61, 1, 5-30
Best, A.I., Priest, J.A. & Clayton, C.R.I. (2010)  
'A resonant column study of the seismic properties of methane-hydrate bearing sand'
In "Geophysical Characterization of Gas Hydrates” (Ed. Riedal, M., Willoughby, E.C., and Chopra, S.), Section 4 (Laboratory Studies), Chapter 24, pp. 337-346. SEG Geophysical Developments Series No. 14.
Sultaniya A, Clayton C. R. I., and Priest J. A., (2010) 
'Assessing Cross Anisotropy of Small-Strain Stiffness using the Resonant Column Apparatus'
5th Int. Conf. on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics, May 24th-29th May, San Diego, USA, Paper No. 1.14b 
Clayton C. R. I., Priest J. A., Rees E.V.L, (2010)
'The effects of hydrate cement on the stiffness of some sands'
Géotechnique, 60, 6, 435-455. DOI: 10.1680/geot.2010.60.5.435
Priest, J. A., Rees, E. V. L. and Clayton, C. R. I.  (2009)
'Influence of gas hydrate morphology on the seismic velocities of sands'
J. Geophys. Res., 114, B11205. doi:10.1029/2009JB006284
Clayton, C. R. I., Priest, J.A., Bui, M., Zervos, A. and Kim S. G. (2009) 
'The Stokoe resonant column apparatus: effects of stiffness, mass and specimen fixity'
Geotechnique, 59, 5, 429-438. doi: 10.1680/geot.2007.00096
Wojtowitz, G., Zervos, A. and Clayton, C.R.I. (2008)
'A new method for the detection and quantification of deep-ocean methane hydrates using seismics'
6th Int. Conf. on Gas Hydrates, Vancouver, 2008, on CD and at https://circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/1022
Kingston, E.V.L.K., Priest, J.A., Clayton, C.R.I. and Best, A.I. (2008)
'Gas hydrate growth morphologies and their effect on the stiffness and damping of a hydrate bearing sand'
6th Int. Conf. on Gas Hydrates, Vancouver, on CD and at https://circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/1022 Publication identifier http://hdl.handle.net/2429/1738
Priest, J.A., Kingston, E.V.L.K., Clayton, C.R.I., Schultheiss, P., Druce, M. and NGHP Expedition 01 Scientific Party (2008)

'The structure of hydrate bearing fine grained marine sediments'
6th Int. Conf. on Gas Hydrates, Vancouver, on CD and at https://circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/1022 Publication identifier http://hdl.handle.net/2429/1796
Clayton, C.R.I., Kingston, E., Priest, J.A., and Schultheiss, P. (2008)
'Testing of pressurised cores containing gas hydrate from deep ocean sediments 6th Int. Conf. on Gas Hydrates, Vancouver'
CD and at https://circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/1022 Publication identifier http://hdl.handle.net/2429/1795
Kingston, E.V.L.K., Priest, J.A., Clayton, C.R.I. and Best, A.I. (2008)
'Effect of grain characteristics on the behaviour of disseminated methane hydrate bearing sediments'
6th Int. Conf. on Gas Hydrates, Vancouver, on CD and at https://circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/1022 Publication identifier  http://hdl.handle.net/2429/1794
Chand S, Minshull TA, Priest J. A., Best A.I., Clayton C. R. I., Waite W, (2006)
'An effective medium inversion algorithm for gas hydrate quantification and its application to laboratory and borehole measurements of gas hydrate-bearing sediments'
Geophysical Journal International, 166, 2, 543-552
Priest J.A., Best A., Clayton C.R.I., (2006)
'Attenuation of seismic waves in methane gas hydrate-bearing sand'
Geophysical Journal International, 164, 149-159
Priest, J.A., Clayton, C.R.I. and Best, A.I. (2005)
'Gas hydrates and their potential effects on deep water exploration activities'
Proc. International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics, Perth, Western Australia, (ed. Gourvenec, S. and Cassidy, M.J.), pp. 889-895
Clayton, C.R.I., Priest, J.A. and Best, A.I. (2005)
‘The effects of disseminated methane hydrate on the dynamic stiffness and damping of a sand’
Geotechnique, 55, 6, 423-434
Priest, J.A., Best, A.I. and Clayton, C.R.I. (2005)
‘A laboratory investigation into the seismic velocities of methane gas hydrate-bearing sand’
Journal of Geophysical Research – Solid Earth, vol. 110, paper B04102.  
Priest, J., Best, A., Clayton, C., and Watson, E. (2005)
'Seismic properties of methane gas hydrate-bearing sand'
Fifth International Conference on Gas Hydrates (ICGH 5), Trondheim, Norway, June 13-16, vol. 2, pp.440-447.


Products for Gas Hydrate Testing


ETAS – Environmental Triaxial Automated System

The environmental triaxial automated system (ETAS) is based on the standard GDSTAS, with a high pressure triaxial cell and heating/cooling system included. The temperature system is automatically controlled alongside the regular triaxial system components via software, with the full range of triaxial test software modules available for use with the HPETAS. Upgrade options can also be specified, including the addition of bender elements, hardware for unsaturated soil testing, and local strain transducers.


ETTS – Environmental Triaxial Testing System

The high pressure environmental triaxial testing system (ETTS) is based on the standard GDSTTS, with a high pressure Bishop and Wesley style cell and heating/cooling system included. The temperature system is automatically controlled alongside the regular triaxial system components via software, with the full range of triaxial test software modules available for use with the ETTS. Upgrade options can also be specified, including the addition of bender elements, hardware for unsaturated soil testing, and local strain transducers.


GDSRCA – Resonant Column Apparatus

For many years the resonant column apparatus has been used in research and commercial laboratories to estimate values of the shear modulus, G, and damping ratio, D, for soil specimens across the small to medium strain range (< 1 %). The variation in these parameters with increasing strain magnitude allows engineers to conduct dynamic response analyses, such as those using finite element and non-linear analytical methods, which enable performance assessment of natural and engineered structures subjected to dynamic and cyclic loadings. With a temperature control system upgrade, the GDSRCA can also determine G and D curves for gas hydrate specimens, enabling dynamic analyses for potentially unstable deposits to be conducted.


HARRCA – Hardin Type Resonant Column Apparatus

is a system that allows specimens to be tested in resonance while maintaining an anisotropic loading. This is achieved by a slender, thin walled loading column passing through the drive system to the top-cap. The GDS Hardin style oscillator contains an electro-magnetic drive system incorporating precision wound coils and composite sintered neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) “rare-earth” magnets. The apparatus can be mounted in a stand-alone system with an integral axial force actuator, or as a cell for integration into an existing load frame. With a temperature control system upgrade, the HARRCA can determine G and D curves for gas hydrate specimens, enabling dynamic analyses for potentially unstable deposits to be conducted.


Product Applications