Modeling the Process of Combustion of Methane Hydrate with Allowance for Nonequilibrium Decomposition

The authors have proposed a mathematical model of the process of combustion of methane hydrate in an enclosed volume with allowance for the kinetics of its decomposition (nonequilibrium decomposition). Based on numerical solution by the method of large particles, distributions of basic parameters of the system have been constructed. A comparison has been made of the distinctive features of hydrate combustion for the cases of equilibrium decomposition of the gas hydrate and of nonequilibrium decomposition with allowance for the kinetics. It has been shown that within the framework of the model with nonequilibrium decomposition, the intensity of combustion at the beginning of the process is much higher compared to the results of calculating based on the model with equilibrium decomposition. The authors have constructed and analyzed the dependences of the temperature of the flame, the maximum pressure of a gas mixture, and the law of motion of the phase-transition front for the two models of hydrate decomposition.