Korea extracts gas hydrate from East Sea: government 상세내용
Subject
Korea extracts gas hydrate from East Sea: government
date
2007-06-25 00:00:00
일반게시판
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Korean engineers have obtained chunks of gas hydrate in the East Sea and successfully separated gas from them, the government said Sunday (June 24), a move that may give the resources-scarce country a new source of energy.
The discovery is important because it shows for certain that a pool of gas hydrate is there, said Lee Seung-woo, head of an oil field development team in the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy.
Lee said the 2,000-ton South Korean oil drilling ship Tamhae 2 has recently found a pool of gas hydrate 100 kilometers south of Ulleung Island and 135 kilometers northeast of the industrial city of Pohang.
The area is within South Koreas 200-mile exclusive economic zone in the East Sea.
The drill hit the sea bottom at 2.072 meters and found a gas hydrate deposit after digging several more meters, Lee said, disclosing that the gas pool appeared 6.5 meters below the sea bed.
Gas hydrate is a mixture of gas and water molecules as an integral part of the crystal. Gas can be extracted by combustion, or heating. It is usually found deep underwater where cold temperatures and extreme pressure cause natural gas to condense into semisolid . When brought to the surface it can be used as liquid natural gas.
Lee said the gas hydrate extracted from the East Sea proved to be of top quality, comparable to 99 percent methane gas.
It was South Koreas first discovery of a gas hydrate pool in its waters since it launched the project in July 2005. Only the United States, Japan, India and China have reported finding such deep-sea gas pools.
Korea has earmarked 225.7 billion won in a three-stage gas hydrate project that runs from 2005 to 2014. In the first stage that ends this year, 66.7 billion won will be spent.
Lee said that after a series of surveys in the East Sea in 2005-2006, Korean engineers have picked 14 locations for drilling.
A more detailed size of the deposit found in this location is expected to be available later in the year after more drillings, he said, adding that it would take some time before gas hydrate found in the area can be commercially used.
According to scientists, there are about 10 trillion tons of gas hydrate in the world, an amount enough for use for 5,000 years. The deposit in Koreas East Sea, estimated at 600 million tons, can meet Koreas natural gas needs for roughly 30 years, they said.
Korea imported 2.7 million tons of liquefied natural gas in 2005 to meet its domestic consumption.
