Rock-breaking mechanism and efficiency of straight-swirling mixed nozzle for the nondiagenetic natural gas hydrate in deep-sea shallow

Abstract

Jet breaking using a high-pressure nozzle is one solution for breaking natural gas hydrate (NGH) formations, creating a larger breaking volume and fluidizing broken solid fragments. Based on the analysis of various jet breaking mechanisms for the variation of the flow velocity of the internal and outlet sections of different nozzles, a straight-swirling mixed nozzle (SSMN) was designed. We obtained different jet breaking effects for a single nozzle, including the influences of the working pressure and target distance on the hole shape, as well as working pressure on hole parameters and target distance on hole parameters. In addition, we analyzed the influences of the nozzle number, type of NGH rock, and construction parameters on the rock-breaking efficiency and selected the best combination mode of multiple nozzles. The research results of the rock-breaking mechanism and efficiency of the SSMN promotes the development of commercial mining technology for nondiagenetic NGH in deep-sea shallow areas.