Geological and Rock Mechanics Perspectives for Underground Coal Gasification in India

Workshop on Challenges and Opportunities of Underground Coal Gasification in India 2017

Singh, Ajay K.^1 ; Singh, Rajendra^1

Strata Mechanics and Nonconventional Gases Group, CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad, India^1

关键词: Empirical model;    Energy extraction;    Northeastern India;    Potential mechanism;    Proved reserves;    Rock temperatures;    Tertiary coals;    Underground coal gasification;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/76/1/012002/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1755-1315/76/1/012002

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

The geological resources of coal in India are more than 308 billion tonnes upto a depth of 1200 m, out of which proved reserve has been reported at around 130 billion tonnes. There is an increasing requirement to increase the energy extraction efficiency from coal as the developmental prospects of India increase. Underground coal gasification (UCG) is a potential mechanism which may be utilized for extraction of deep-seated coal reserves. Some previous studies suggest that lignites from Gujarat and Rajasthan, along with tertiary coals from northeastern India can be useful from the point of view of UCG. We discuss some geological literature available for these areas. Coming to the rock mechanics perspectives, during UCG the rock temperature is considerable high. At this temperature, most empirical models of rock mechanics may not be applied. In this situation, the challenges for numerical modelling of UCG sites increases manifold. We discuss some of the important modelling geomechanical issues related to UCG in India.