MESHD, MES-S 가상 축구 Kitami Institute of Technology jointly to develop ice blocks similar to shallow methane hydrates

Ice blocks produced at Kitami Institute 가상 축구 Technology

Mitsui E&S Holdings Co., Ltd. (President 가상 축구 COO: Ryoichi Oka, "MESHD") 가상 축구 Mitsui E & S Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (President: Tetsuro Koga, "MES-S") 가상 축구 Kitami Institute of Technology (President: Soichiro Suzuki, "KIT") have started to jointly develop how to make big ice blocks which simulates ice-like solid of shallow methane hydrate.

The seabed of Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) contains various resources including shallow methane hydrates, s가상 축구y layer type methane hydrates, sea-floor hydrothermal deposits 가상 축구 cobalt rich crusts, 가상 축구 there are high expectations for future development with a view to harvesting these materials from the seabed as 100% domestically-produced resources. In particular, shallow methane hydrate, an ice-like solid material composed of water 가상 축구 methane molecules, can only exist in stable form under the low-temperature, high-pressure conditions of the seabed.
MESHD 가상 축구 MES-S are investigating a method to harvest shallow methane hydrate from the seabed using a drill with a large diameter 가상 축구 it is necessary to acquire design data of the drilling equipment in order to operate the drilling rig stably.
However, it is not easy 가상 축구 carry out tests 가상 축구 obtain the design data at the seabed of about 400m or more where shallow methane hydrate exists.
In addition, it is difficult to obtain the design data onshore by using the shallow methane hydrate itself, because the methane hydrate partially dissociates into methane gas 가상 축구 water during lifting one from the seabed to the ocean surface.
Therefore, we are investigating obtaining the design data by performing onshore drilling tests using artificial ice blocks simulating shallow 가상 축구 hydrate.
The drilling equipment for onshore drilling tests has already been examined with the cooperation of MHWirth GmbH (MHWirth), a leading global provider of first-class drilling solutions 가상 축구 services. Adding to the drilling equipment, since December 2018, MESHD 가상 축구 MES-S have been engaged in joint research efforts in association with Geotechnical Engineering Lab. (Professor Satoshi Yamashita) at School of Earth 가상 축구 Environmental Sciences in KIT, which possesses many years of knowledge 가상 축구 expertise in the field of methane hydrate-containing ground research.
KIT has produced a large ice block corresponding to the drilling test 가상 축구 obtained the mechanical property data of the ice block.In the future, based on the knowledge gained, we will continue to study methods for producing ice blocks that have a strength comparable to that of shallow methane hydrates.
MESHD 가상 축구 MES-S have been participating in studies 가상 축구 research for the development of technologies for the recovery of shallow methane hydrate being conducted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade 가상 축구 Industry (METI) Agency for Natural Resources 가상 축구 Energy 가상 축구 the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science 가상 축구 Technology (AIST) since fiscal 2016, 가상 축구 is advancing considerations with regard to recovery methods 가상 축구 economic viability with a view to the commercial application of these technologies.
Moving forward, focusing around the pivotal development of subsea mining technologies 가상 축구 offshore drilling systems, MESHD 가상 축구 MES-S will continue to work actively towards the establishment of lifting 가상 축구 recovery technologies for shallow methane hydrate 가상 축구 other seabed resources.

Uniaxial Compressive Strength Test