Pressurized subsampling system for pressured gas-hydrate-bearing sediment: microscale imaging using X-ray computed tomography.

A pressurized subsampling system was developed for pressured gas hydrate (GH)-bearing sediments, which have been stored under pressure. The system subsamples small amounts of GH sediments from cores (approximately 50 mm in diameter and 300 mm in height) without pressure release to atmospheric conditions. The maximum size of the subsamples is 12.5 mm in diameter and 20 mm in height. Moreover, our system transfers the subsample into a pressure vessel, and seals the pressure vessel by screwing in a plug under hydraulic pressure conditions. In this study, we demonstrated pressurized subsampling from artificial xenon-hydrate sediments and nondestructive microscale imaging of the subsample, using a microfocus X-ray computed tomography (CT) system. In addition, we estimated porosity and hydrate saturation from two-dimensional X-ray CT images of the subsamples.