Scribd Logo
Încărcați

Bine ați venit la Scribd!

  • Coal Bed Methane

    Încărcat de

    Ashwani Rana
    15 vizualizări4 pagini
    adad

    Drepturi de autor

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Formate disponibile

    PDF sau citiți online pe Scribd

    Vi se pare util acest document?

    Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

    Raportați acest document
    adad

    Drepturi de autor:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Descărcați ca PDF sau citiți online pe Scribd
    Indicator pentru conținut neadecvat
    15 vizualizări4 pagini

    Coal Bed Methane

    Încărcat de

    Ashwani Rana
    adad

    Drepturi de autor:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Descărcați ca PDF sau citiți online pe Scribd
    Indicator pentru conținut neadecvat
    din 4
    ‘Scientific Article CBM: An Energy Resource CBM ie. “COAL BED METHANE" is the commercial name sgiven to the Methane gas extracted from coal beds. It is well known that coal is of ‘vegetative origin. The decomposition ‘of accumulated vegetation, during the eoalfication process is the genera tion source of Methane (CH,) and other gases (CO 2, Oz, Hz, CO, Na). In this gaseous mixture the share of Methane is larger compared to others. As coal matures, these gases are trapped within coal ‘bed and the pressure exerted by naturally formed water keeps them adsorbed on the larger surface of coal ‘matrix. In other words these gases are held under monomolecular state within the coal seams and not as a free gas of natural oil/gas fields. ‘Therefore all coalfields of the world are the store-house of Methane gas, the only difference being the quantity of gas in individual coal seams (6 m?/ tonne to a2 much a2 85 en3 /tonne of coal). Unlike oil/natural gas, which is generated in shales and clays, but migrate to other rocks like sand- stone /limestones to form their reser~ voirs, coal bed refers to a material which is both, the source of gas and its storage reservoir. Methaneisa highly explosive gas and its presence in coal seams is con- sidered the most serious hazard in con misng Be beets se oon ‘coal mining com- tmences, multiple cracks start devel ‘oping on the working coal-face, which ppave the way for the release of water, ‘Methane and other associated gases into the small confined mining area. Therefore to provide safe working erate elec ‘mine, appropriate fresh air circulation ‘mechanism is installed to dilute these dangerous gases and their subsequent release to the atmosphere above. Besides, in highly gaseous mines, costly “FLAME PROOF ELECTRI- CAL” equipments are used as addi- tional safety measures. Methane is also released during open cast coal PD/January/2008/1193 mining, but its immediate contact ‘with the vast atmospheric air dilutes ito insignificant level. In other words, the Methane gas is simply wasted during coal mining ‘operations for the sake of mine safety and its release to atmosphere pollutes the environment of coal field areas. ‘Methane is currently estimated to be 245 times more effective than ‘arbon-dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. In Global Warming, Methane’s contribution is about 18 per cent, making it the second most significant Green House Gas after ‘carbon-dioxide (CO—66%, N;O—5% and CFCs—11%). ‘Methane has a short atmospheric lifetime-about 10 years, to 120 years or more for CO;. This short lifetime means that programmes and policies to reduce Methane emissions ‘can help to mitigate the rate of climate changes faster than reduction in emission of CO; and other longer living Croon House Cacee In fact it is estimated that the impact of 10 per cent reduction in Methane emissions would have the same impact in terms of mitigating Global Warming between now and the year 2050, as capping CO; emis sions at 1990 levels over the same period. Global Anthropogenic Methane Emission by Source (1990) Methane No.| Soure | Emission |__| renee 1. | tivetok 100 2 | Rice a0 3. | NauntGasvon | 3268 4. | Biomassbuming| 2851 5 | Liguidwases | 2940 6 | Coat 240 7, | Landsits 228 8 | Manure 818 9-_| Minor industries 4 1 Teragram = 149 lion cubic metre “This table clearly reveals that— 1. Coal mining contributes about 10 per cent to the atmo- sphere. —S.K.Pande 2. Compared to other Methane ‘emissions from coal mines appears to be easy, since coalfields have fixed locations. Since CBM is held within coal- seams in adsorbed state, the water holding it in confined state is first removed to reduce pressure on Methane molecules to facilitate its release. The process involves drilling ‘bore-wells from surface into coal-bed and then inject fluids, water and may be fine sand into the bore-well to create cracks and fractures in the coal-bed. However, unlike conven- tional gas wells, which produce gas instantaneously on completion of bore-well (many times this gas has to be flared in the absence of infras- tructure facility of its storage and distribution system or plug the bore- ‘well to stop its release), the CBM wells pump out only water for considerable length of time (may be few months) before Methane ie ‘accomplished : (of coal-bed through bore-wells, drain- ing water held within pore structure of coal to reduce pressure, which facilitates release of CBM. In other ‘words CBM production can be con- trolled as per requirement. After dehydration, this gas can be used for domestic purposes, Se furnaces of steel plants and as feed stock for gas cracker/ fertilizer plants and as fuel for industry. USA is the fore-runner in devel- ‘oping and harnessing this technology at a commercial scale. CBM. devel- ‘opment work was started in USA during early 1980s. It began with a ‘meagre production of 10 billion cubic feet in 1984. In subsequent years, their R&D efforts in improving the ‘extraction rate has started paying dividend. By 1997 the production of (CBM in USA had reached a level of 11130 billion cubic feet. In 2002 it was over 1200 billion cubic feet per year (including 3 per cent from working “By ignorance we mistake, and by mistakes we earn” rmines), accounting for 6 to 7 per cent of total domestic production of ‘natural gas in USA. ‘Therefore, USA is taken asa role ‘model of CBM production in the world. Inspired by the success of USA, many other coal producing ‘countries like India, China, Australia, UK, Poland, Canada etc. are taking keen interest in CBM exploitation. In Industrial Circle, CBM is now lassified in three categories— 1. Coal Mine Methane (CMM)— ‘Methane gas captured from working ‘ines. 2. Abandoned Mine Methane (AMM)—Methane gas produced from abandoned working 3. Virgin Coal-Bed Methane (VCBM)—Methane gas produced {from in stu coal-beds prior to mining. At present USA is the only ‘country where VCBM is being pro- duced along with some quantity of (CMM. Realizing the environmental hazards due to Methane discharge from active and abandoned coal- ‘mines, many coal producing countries of the world have been now produc- jing CMM and AMM on commercial seale since late 1980's. Similar attempts to recover CMM from an Indian coal-mine Amlabad Gharia coalfield—under BCCL) was tried in early 1980s with French collaboration. It was abondoned after drilling few exploratory bore-holes from surface and analytical testing, mainly due to high cost involved and lack of commitment. It is a highly gassy mine and the chemical analysis of XIV seam carried out by Central Mining Research Institute (CMRI, showed high concentration of Methane (944 per cent). ‘As per American experience, coal seams of high rank buried at depth of hhaving 6 m? tonne gas or more can ‘be targeted for CBM production. In the Indian coal scenario, 99-62 per cent workable coal resources ‘occur in Gondwana formations. ‘These have been extensively explored (geologically) and they are known to contain 252 million tonnes of coal reserves within 1200 metre depth (as fon 14 Jan, 2006). Besides 0942 billion tonnes of coal reserves are located in tertiary formations in North-Eastern Region. At the same time under- ‘ground coal mining activity is largely confined within 250 metre depth, barring a few mines which operate at 400-700 metre depth. Thus potentially rich VCBM resource horizons in India are in virgin state. In CBM context, some direct evidences of gas-in-place in Indian coalfields are— 1. Gas mixtures tested in the mines of Jharia coalfield show 94-95, per cent concentration of Methane gas. 2. Gas continues to ooze out of exploratory bore-holes drilled in Jharia and Raniganj coalfelds during 1980s (sce photograph). 3. Such gas shows are also reported from East Bokaro, Sohagpur, Kanhan ete. 4. Coal core samples of Parbat- pur block (haria coalfield) tested during 1990-91 exploration were found to contain more than 8 m? per tonne of coal. The highest recorded value was 1493 m?/tonne at 800 metre depth. 5. In recent years ONGC has carried out CBM specific exploration ‘work in many Indian coalfields. Some results are placed below— CBM Blocksin | Gas Content in Coalfields | mRonne Tharia 77 East Bokaro 1045 West Bokaro 240 North Karanpura 10 “Thus based on general informa- tion of geology and the gas content of Indian coalfields it is estimated that 3 Trillion cu mtrs of CBM reserves are available in India. Besides the coal deposits of India, extensive Lignite basins occur in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The earliest CBM exploration in (Cambay basin displayed that tertiary sediments are associated with extensive lignite seams, which store significant amount of Methane gas. ‘Taking clue from this finding, several blocks of Barmer basin have been ‘identified for CBM operation. In one such block of Mehsana, the ESSAR company had drilled 2 bbore-wells. The typical chemical anal- ysis of core samples tested by CMRI showed that the gas mixture con- tained CH,—86-10%, CO,—1152%, Nz—188%, 0—050% and Hy—Nil “The gas concentration varied between 307m? /tonne. ‘The lignite seams, inspite of low rank are found to store moderate amount of Methane. But broad characterization of lignite horizons gives an inaication of mearum prospectivity in Barmer lignite basin (6000-6000 m? hole}. However, a study of Mehsana area (Cambay Basin) shows signifi- cant storage (3-85 m? tonne) of gas in thick Kadi and Kailol lignite seams of Eocene age. These deeply buried lignite beds (700-1400 metre) contain 0 billion tonnes of lignite reserves, ‘which may store about 300 bem of as. In short, besides the Indian coalfields, the lignite fields of India are also a prospective source for CBM production in India. As per Govt. of India directive, ‘ONGC is the nodal agency to steer, regulate and monitor all CBM related activity in India and work in tandem with CTL the largest coal producer in the country. The block allotment for CBM exploitation is done on Global Tender basis. At present (Sept. 2006) 16 blocks covering 7800 sq. kms. in different coal and lignite basins of India have been awarded to different operators (including private sector). PD/January/2008/1194 “Learn trom the mistakes of others, you can never lve long enough to make them all yourself.” CBM Potential (b cm) in Awarded Blocks No.| Coalfield | Block Company CBM” 1] Ranga ~S*| SW SBC 2. | Raniganj | central Ranigan} oNecya. ns 3.| Ronny) | EaerRaigan) | ESAR Ta ihe Teaser Pa quoxce | 5. [Bola | Eat Wet Bolas | oNaernoe | 8 6 |New ane onccfioc ats 7.| Nort Kaper oxcc | | ad pe once 2s * t mt [as 10. wa } 7 : once) z once) ss 3 a 9% 14, | Barmer RIL 877 15, | Barmer GSPCL/ONGC B72 1 [sont mL = + Estimated by Director-General Hydrocarbon (DGH). COAL AND LIGNITE FIELDS (OF INDIA a UE aa i | a Distribution of Coalfields in India-G.S.. PD/Janvary/2008/1195/6 sakes are steppin These blocks are in the process of testing and some bore-wells are in the dewatering stage. The actual CBM production in India is likely to commence within 2007-08, Besides, 10 more blocks in Birbhum," Rsjmahal, Singrauli, Tatapani-Ramkola, Mand-Raigath, North Sohagpur, North and South Godavari Gondwana basins and 2 blocks in Barmer basin are on offer for bidding. Primarily these blocks are located in the fields which are large store-houses of low rank coals and not considered very ideal targets for CBM operation. However, there is a need for exploring the prospects of CBM in such large coalfelds. ‘Some special type of bacteria (Hydrolytic Fermentative, Syntrophic ‘Acetogenic, Methanogenic) also gen- erate Methane gas. A classic example of their biogenic activity is the emergence of SALT LAKE area of Kolkata as a very fertile land. In very near-past this land was used as a dumping ground of municipal-waste of Kolkata city. Owing to the bacterial activity over the years, the entire area is now a fertile land. While passing through this area, one can feel the presence of Methane its smell) in the atmosphere Taking cue from such natural function of bacteria, American Scien tists are engaged in developing tech- niques to increase Methane contents in coalbed by injecting such bacteria and this process is named “MICRO- BIALLY ENHANCED COAL-BED METHANE” (MECOM). During coalification process, chemically wet gases, condensate and waxes are generated (these are produced in CBM borewells.) These organic ‘compounds can be metabolized by such bacteria as an important food source available in coal/lignite beds. In the process, removal of these ‘organic compounds would facilitate the release of Methane gas mixture ‘and at the same time enhance the gas CBM production in India will also contribute towards the following ‘economic and environmental bene= fits— 1. Conversion of a mining hazard into a energy resource. 2. It will provide additional safety in mining work. Continued on Page 1201 Continued from Page 1195 3. Possible utilization of thin ¢ ‘seams, which otherwise cannot mined due to technological c straints. 4. Reduction in undergroe ‘coal production cost, by use of la diameter bore-wells of CBM in ning mining activities like dewa ing, ventilation, cable lowering, s: stowing etc. 5. Excessive water pumped during the process, could be u: PD/January/2008/1201 {after treatment) to meet the general shortage of the water supply in

    S-ar putea să vă placă și