What is Combustible Ice? China Sets World Record for Extracting Alternative Resource
China has successfully collected more than 300,000 cubic meters of natural gas hydrate, commonly known as "combustible ice" in the South China Sea. The expedition has set a new record after their mining trial which lasted 60 days.
This mining expedition puts to test new technologies focused on combustible ice extraction, which has been previously fraught with issues, mostly from seabed sand entering production wells, according to the International Business Times.
Reserves of combustible ice have been initially found by China near the Pearl River mouth basin, according to the South China Morning Post. The narrow belt of deposit in the area could be equal to 100 to 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas, according to estimates.
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About 350 square kilometers of cold springs, deep underwater at about 1,350 to 1,430 meters below sea level, contained commercially viable deposits of the natural gas hydrate.
These methane hydrate deposits are sought after for the high-density natural gas locked inside ice crystals. The high energy density of the substance makes it a viable alternative to natural gas.
One cubic meter of combustible ice is equivalent to 164 cubic meters of regular natural gas. The purity of the solidified gas also makes combustible ice burn cleaner, with fewer pollutants produced.
Li Jinga, Deputy Director for the China Geological Survey Bureau, posed combustible ice as an alternative resource. "It is considered a strategic alternative to oil and natural gas in the future," Jinga said.
"Not just China, the world at large sets eyes on it," he added.
Various issues with extracting this new resource will have to be addressed first, however. Gas leaks and the risks of drilling in seismically sensitive areas make exploration dangerous.
Practical challenges also involve keeping combustible ice from melting as they make their way to the surface. A constant problem has also been the influx of sand into the production wells, a problem that the new expedition claims to have solved.
