Ajay Kumar SinghCSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research

Dhanbad - 826015

Ajay Kumar SinghCSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research

Dhanbad - 826015

Technological Integration of UCG Technological Integration of UCG and CBM to Harness the Energy and CBM to Harness the Energy

Resources: A Conceptual ThoughtResources: A Conceptual Thought

COAL ASIA: 2012COAL ASIA: 2012New DelhiNew Delhi

28 February 201228 February 2012

RANIGANJ FM.OF RANIGANJ & JHARIA

COALFIELDSBARAKAR FM.

OF SATPURA, SOHAGPUR, WARDHA, GODAVARI, SONHAT COALFIELDS

BARAKAR FM.OF JHARIA, RANIGANJ,

EAST BOKARO & KARANPURA COALFIELDS

COAL RANK (ASTM)

THERMAL MATURITY (Ro

%)GAS GENERATION &

ADSORPTION

0.4%

0.5%

0.6%

0.8%

1.1%

1.5%

2.0%

2.6%

THERMAL GENERATION

ADSORPTION CAPACITY

BITUMINOUS RANKS

LIGNITESUB

BITUMINOUS A.B.C.

HIGH VOLATILE C

HIGH VOLATILE B

HIGH VOLATILE A

MEDIUM VOLATILE

LOW VOLATILE

SEMI ANTHRACITE

ANTHRACITE

META ANTHRACITE

600020000 SCF / T

GROUP B

GROUP A

BARMER, CAMBAY, MANNARGUADI LIGNITE

BASINS

GROUP CBIOGENIC & MIXED GAS

COAL RANK, GAS GENERATION AND ADSORPTION

Dual Porosity of Coal

Microscopic view of the Micropores structure of

coal

Fracture system, cleats in coal

Transport of Gas

FloorNOT TO SCALE

2m

Roof

4.2m

Cover

CBM Industry• The CBM industry is an

outgrowth of the coal mining industry.

• Methane in coal has always been considered a safety hazard in u/g mining.

• With exploitation deeper coal seams, there came the need to degasify the coal seams ahead of mining.

• Attempts to degasify coal led to the development CBM.

GasWater

Typical VCBM Well in Production

UCG is the partial combustion of coal below ground to produce a combustible gas known as syn-gas for use as an energy source. 

It is achieved by drilling two wells from the surface, one to supply air/oxygen; another well to produce syn-gas to the surface.

Apart from syn-gas, by-products are hydrocarbon liquids, ammonia and water

Raw Combustible

UCG Gas

Ground Level

Water Table

Overburden

Coal

Air

Clay Under burden

ResidueOxidisation

Process

Raw Gas

What is UCG?

UCG World wide

OPEN CAST LIGNITE MINE, ANGREN

UCG operation near the mine site, Angren

UCG - TECHNOLOGY IN OPERATION FOR THE PAST 45 YEARS – near OC mine

Uzbekistan: UCG is in progress on commercial scale, where the gas is being fed into a boiler of 100 MW power plant

Russia : Skochinsky Institute of Mining, Moscow developed UCG technology for the erstwhile USSR countries

GAS COMPOSITION (vol.%)

CO2 - 20-22CO - 4.0-6.0O2 - 0.3-0.5H2S - 0.5-0.6H2 - 22.0-22.4CH4 - 2.2-4.0CmHn - 0.2-0.3N2 - 50.6-44.

MAIN TECHNICAL DATA ON THE STATION · Depth of coal seam

occurrence, m    

· Coal seam thickness, m    

· Heat value of coal, kcal/kg    

· Ash content of coal, %    

· Moisture content of coal, %    

· Hole diameter, mm    

· Heat value of gas, kcal/m3     · Chemical efficiency of

gasification, % · Underground loss of coal, %

   

· Gas yield per 1 kg coal, m3     · Air consumption per 1 m3

gas, m3   

- 130-250

- 2-15- 2800-3200- 15-21- 30-35- 140-200- 800-1000- 70-85

- 5-18- 1.8-2.2- 0.74-0.83

USA: Extensive UCG tests were undertaken in 1960’s to

80’s through the joint efforts of the industry, research institutes and the Government.

The latest field experiment was conducted near Hanna, Wyoming in 1987-88, known as Rocky Mountain 1 (RM 1):

The test results were environmentally accepted

Hanna coals have similarity to the low rank Indian lignites

Interest in UCG is renewed due to high cost of crude oil & pilot plants have been planned with the assistance of

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)

CHINA: More than dozen operations particularly in abandoned mines.

EUROPEAN UNION: UCG trials in deeper coals with the aim to utilize offshore coal seams. 18 Licenses issued

Australia: Demonstration plant producing UCG gas since

1999 at Chinchilla, West of Brisbane

Longest burn outside Former Soviet Union

Operations conforming to Strict Australian Environmental

Standards

Successfully demonstrated controlled shut-down and re-start

of UCG

Project anticipates low cost of power generation

Planning for conversion of syn-gas to hydrocarbon liquids

(CTL)

THE CHINCHILLA SITE IS OPERATING ALONGSIDE EXISTING RURAL POPULATION

Australian UCG Project, Chinchilla

UCG fuel costs for 47 MW 6B GT shall be (2002) – cost Capex US$ 10 million (including of Pilot Burn)

– Operating cost US$ 0.5 million/ year

– UCG costs less than US cent 50/ MMBtu

Estimates for 67 MW CC power– Capex US$ 30 million

– Operating cost $ 1.2 million per year

– Cost of electricity US cent 1.5/ kWh

Assumptions: USD 0.54 per AUS $ 1.0, Company I tax 30%

Inflation 2% on rev. 3% on costs, Capex written off in 25 y

Revenue from by products not attributed

AUSTRALIA UCG PROJECT, CHINCHILLASITE COST ESTIMATES

Current Commercial Operations

Angren in Uzbekistan

Since 1945 supplying gas to a boiler of a Power plant

Chinchilla, west of Brisbane, Australia Since 1999. Preparing for CTL

Majuba, South Africa Since January 2007

UCG efforts in India1. MEHASANA, GUJARAT – in 1980`s• ONGC, CMPDI, National laboratories, Govt. of India and Coal India

• Two R&D wells were drilled to collect preliminary data

• Active aquifer (permeability – 1 Darcy) found in proximity of lignite at a depth of 1000 m

• Project abandoned

2. Merta Road, Rajasthan – late 1980`s• CMPDI and Russian experts; Few boreholes drilled

• Project abandoned as active aquifer in proximity to lignite

3. Bihar (Now Jharkhnad) – late 1980`s• CMPDI and Russian experts

• Resource information collected; however project abandoned

4. Gas Authority of India, Rajasthan – since 1998• MOU between Govt. of Rajasthan (GOR) and GAIL for UCG. 1691 Sq.KM area identified for UCG.

• No action till 2008. GOR issued fresh notification, inviting private/state sector for UCG

5. Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd. (NLC) – since 2002• Govt. of India provided grant of Rs. 10 Cr for undertaking UCG pilot

• Area also allotted in Dist. Bikaner - Project not initiated due to lack of technical expertise

Technologies for UCGTwo different methods of UCG have been proved: Both are commercially available

The first, based on technology from the former Soviet Union, uses vertical wells and a method like reverse combustion to open up the internal pathways in the coal. The process has been tested (1999-2003) in Chinchilla, Australia using air as the injected oxidant.

The second, tested in European and American coal seams, creates dedicated inseam boreholes, using drilling and completion technology adapted from oil and gas production. It has a moveable injection point known as CRIP (controlled retraction injection point) and generally uses oxygen or enriched air for gasification.

Why to blend the two technologies?

• Both are related to Coal Measures• Generally both are operated below mineable depth

(A policy constraint to go below ~600m depth for CBM and UCG in Indian context)

• Vast reserve of coal below mineable depth• CBM- A Physical Separation

UCG- A Chemical Transformation• To recover maximum out of otherwise

irrecoverable coal• Both are environmentally safe• Aesthetic beauty of the landscapes is maintained• To reduce the capital investment and operational

cost further

Drilling Technologies

Vertical wellsVertical wells Horizontal, multilateral wellsHorizontal, multilateral wells

CBM/UCG and Directional Drilling

Managing Environment

Integrated site characterisation Numerical modelling

Produced Water Subsidence

Field monitoring

From Borehole to Numerical Model

Blending

CBM-UCG

Corprate: Reliance, ESSAR,

Abhijeet, GEECL etc.PSU:

ONGC, GAIL, CIL, NTPC, BHEL etc.

Government :Planning Commission

MoPNG, MoC

R & D:CIMFR, NGRI, ISM, IITs DOE,

LLNL etc.

Facilities at CIMFR: Gas Chromatograph

Characterisation of resource on chemical and petrographic parameters at exploration stage

EMERGING POSSIBILITIES OF UCG

requires

for

Optimal utilisation of resource both at short and long term perspective

Moisture < 2% to 6%

Volatile - <18 to 35%

Carbon - 85 to 90% (on dmf basis)

Ash - 15 to 30% (excluding dirt bands)

Coking properties (eastern CFs of Damodar Valley basins)

Coke type - D to G6 or better

General characters of Barakar coalGeneral characters of Barakar coal

High moisture

High Volatile

Coal seams thinner than those of Barakar

Best developed in Raniganj coalfield

General characters of Raniganj coal

FORMATIONFORMATION

Intrusives

RaniganjBarren MeasuresBarakarTalchirBasement

THICKNESSTHICKNESS

725m850m

1130m225m

--

COAL SEAMSCOAL SEAMSNo ThicknessNo Thickness

22 (0.1m-4.7m)

46 (0.3m-33.0m)

JHARIACOALFIELD

COAL RESOURCE

0-600m -- 14.2 bt

600m-1200m -- 5.2 bt0 – 1200m – 19.4 bt

Salient features

Deeper level

Raniganj Coalfield: Cumulative coal thickness (42.27m) and development of thicker seams(9.77m)

EAST

BOKAROCOALFIELDFORMATIONFORMATION

MahadevaPanchetRaniganjBarren MeasuresBarakarTalchirBasement

THICKNESSTHICKNESS

500m

600m600m500m

1000m80m --

COAL SEAMSCOAL SEAMSNo ThicknessNo Thickness

7 (0.4m-3.0m)

26 (0.4m-63.9m)

COAL RESOURCE

0-300m -- 3.2 bt300m-600m -- 1.5 bt600m-1200m -- 2.3 bt0 – 1200m -- 7.0 bt

Salient features

Deeper level

FORMATIONFORMATION

MahadevaPanchetRaniganjBarren MeasuresBarakarKarharbariTalchirBasement

THICKNESSTHICKNESS

165m

225m400m385m500m200m180m

--

COAL SEAMSCOAL SEAMSNo ThicknessNo Thickness

thin bands

5 (0.5m-35.2m)1 (0.5m-10.5m)

COAL RESOURCE

0-300m -- 10.3 bt300m-600m -- 4.3 bt

0 – 1200m – 14.6 bt

Salient Salient featuresfeatures

NORTH

KARANPURA

COALFIELD

Deeper level

SOUTH KARANPURA COALFIELD

FORMATIONFORMATION

RaniganjBarren MeasuresBarakarTalchirBasement

THICKNESSTHICKNESS

360m385m

1050m180m

--

COAL SEAMSCOAL SEAMSNo ThicknessNo Thickness7 (0.8m-3.3m)

42 (0.5m-54.2m)

COAL RESOURCE

0-300m -- 3.3 bt300m-600m -- 1.8 bt600m-1200m -- 0.9 bt

0 – 1200m – 6.0 bt

Salient features

Deeper level

Thank you for your Attention…..

Ajay Kumar SinghAjay Kumar SinghCSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel ResearchCSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research

Dhanbad - 826015Dhanbad - 826015

ajay@cimfr@res.inajay@cimfr@res.in

ajay.cimfr@gmail.comajay.cimfr@gmail.com