IPA12-SG-043
PROCEEDINGS, INDONESIAN PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION
Thirty-Sixth Annual Convention & Exhibition, May 2012
UNDERGROUND COAL GASIFICATION
A Safe, Secure and Clean Unconventional Gas Technology for Development in Indonesia
Ragil Pratiwi*
ABSTRACT
Underground coal gasification (UCG) is a process in
which coal is converted in situ to a combustible gas
that can be used as a fuel, chemical feedstock and
syngas. UCG is a process used to produce gas,
primarily hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide, and methane by partially combusting
underground coal in the presence of water and a
controlled oxygen supply (Walker, 1999).
According to Geological Survey Ministry of Energy
and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Indonesias total
coal recources are estimated at 65.4 billion tons and
reserves of 2.6 to 12 billion tons. Presently,
Indonesia is most likely to burn coal for conversion
to electricity. Because the burning of coal produces
pollutan gases such as CO2, SO2, NOx and CxHy, this
use is inefficient. However, nearly 85% of known
coal reserves are deemed uneconomic for surface
mining because they are too remote, too deep, or
below caloric threshold. It is in these regions that
UCG has much to offer.
The process of coal gasification in a surface,
gasifier can be replicated underground by drilling
into the coal seam, injecting air or oxygen, and
gasifying the coal seam in situ. The produced gas is
transported to the surface (Walker, 1999).
UCG technology can recover up to 80% of the
calorific value of coal; a significant increase over
other coal extraction methods. When combined with
CO2 storage in the depleted coal seams,
UCG creates a source of energy that rivals nuclear
reaction for low emissions and has lower unit costs
than conventional gas-fired power stations.
Keywords : underground coal gasification, syngas,
UCG processes, coal seam.
* Geological Engineering Universitas Diponegoro
INTRODUCTION
In Indonesia, coal is one of the most important fuels,
after diesel fuel. More than 40% of Indonesia's
electricity production uses coal, because coal is
cheaper than the other fuels, like oil and natural gas.
According to Geological Survey Ministry of Energy
and Mineral Resources (ESDM), the amount
of Indonesias coal recources totals 65.4 billion tons
with reserves of 2.6 billion tons to 12 billion tons.
There are 21 basins in Indonesia which produce
coal, such as Central Sumatera Basin, Berau Basin,
Kutai Basin, etc. (Figure 1).
Based on BPs statistical review of world energy
2011, Indonesian coal reserves reach 0.6% of world
coal reserves (Table 1). Presently, Indonesia is more
likely to burn coal and convert it ito electricity.
Because the burning coal producee pollutan gases,
such as CO2, SO2, NOx and CxHy this process
is inefficient with lost high added value.
However, nearly 85% of known coal reserves are
deemed uneconomic for surface mining techniques,
because they are too remote, too deep, or
uneconomic because of low quality. It is in these
regions that UCG has much to offer, because
according to Geological Resources Centre, 2006,
approximately 24.4% of Indonesian coal is low
caloric value and 61.4% is medium caloric value
(Figure 2). Consequently, many are now turning to
UCG to fully utilise this valuable resource, which
many experts believe could treble the availability of
coal suitable for UCG globally.
The UCG process is cleaner and more
environtmentally friendly than conventional coal
utilization because the unwanted by-products such
as sulphur compounds and ash, can be removed
from the gas. The clean gas product then can be
streamed as an energy source.
Combustion occurs when oxygen in air reacts with
carbon and hydrogen contained in coal and produces
CO2, water and heat energy. Under normal
conditions, with proper air supply the UCG process
will convert all the chemical energy into heat energy.
Additionaly, the increase of oil price at
approximately US$ 100 per barrel is an incentive for
the Indonesian Government to consider alternative
energies which may be cheaper and more
enviromentally friendly. So this technology should
be investigated for implementation in Indonesia.
The ability of UCG technology to access these vast
quantities of coal, cleanly, economically and safely
has consequently increased interest and
investigation. There are now numerous UCG
projects around the world (Figure 3).
METHOD
This paper is an overview of published literature
contained in books, journals, and internet media.
DISCUSSION
Understanding of Underground Coal
Gasification
Underground coal gasification (UCG) is a process
that converts in situ coal into a combustible gas that
can be used as a fuel or chemical feedstock (Walker,
1999). It is a process used to produce gas, primarily
hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and
methane by partially combusting underground coal
in the presence of water and a controlled oxygen
supply.
Underground coal gasification is a one step
extraction process (like coal mining) with a
conversion process (gasification). It produces a high
quality, affordable synthetic gas (syngas) that can
be processed to provide fuels for power generation,
diesel fuels, fertilisers, hydrogens and chemical
feedstocks.
Global History of Underground Coal Gasification
UCG technology came from Soviet Union (now
Russian Federation) in 1950, and was used
comercially in Donetz Basin in 1954 and Kuznetz
Basin in 1962 by Podzemgaz, now known as
Promgaz (Ranalarko and Khaeri, 2010). U.S and
Europe also conducted several tests in 1970s and
1980s, and China in 1990s.
Basics of UCG Process
Hundreds of surface reactors for gasification have
been constructed around the world and more than
one third of them operat on coal. Waste products
gasification is an alternative technique to waste
disposal. It is growing as an option of commerce in
order to reduce contamination of environment.
Ratusan reaktor permukaan untuk gasifikasi telah
dibangun di seluruh dunia dan lebih dari sepertiga
dari mereka operas batubara. produk limbah
gasifikasi adalah teknik alternatif untuk
pembuangan limbah. Hal ini tumbuh sebagai
pilihan perdagangan untuk mengurangi
pencemaran lingkungan.
According to UCG engineering, the process of coal
gasification in a surface gasifier can be replicated
underground by drilling into the coal seam, injecting
air or oxygen, and gasifying the coal seam in situ.
The product gases are transported to the surface for
processing and utilisation. The basic UCG process
has two wells drilled into the coal, one for injection
of the oxidants, the other to bring the product gas to
surface (Figure 4).
Coal has considerable variation in its resistance to
flow, depending on its age, composition and
geological history, so simply relying on the natural
permeability of the coal to transport the gas is
generally not satisfactory. High pressure break-up of
the coal with water (hydrofracing), electric-linkage
and reverse combustion have all been used with
success in both pilot and commercial scale
operations. The technique is best suited to deep coal
seams, 500 metres plus and can be undertaken both
onshore and offshore.
Batubara memiliki variasi dalam ketahanan
mengalir, tergantung pada usia, komposisi dan
sejarah geologi, sehingga hanya mengandalkan
permeabilitas alam batubara untuk mengangkut gas
umumnya tidak memuaskan. Tekanan tinggi break-
up dari batubara dengan air (hydrofracing),
electric-linkage dan reverse combustion semuanya
telah digunakan dengan sukses di kedua pilot dan
operasi skala komersial. Teknik ini paling cocok
untuk lapisan batubara yang mendalam, 500 meter
ditambah dan dapat dilakukan baik di darat dan
lepas pantai ..
The composition and caloric value from produced
gas depends on its geological condition, quality of
coal, working agent composition as gasifier and
procedure, and also purification of gas.
Greenhouse-gases are processed with geological
CO2 sequestration, which involves removing CO2
from the air, then injecting into highly porous rock
at a depth of 1-4 kms underground. Theoritically,
caloric value of gas produced from carbon
 3 3
gasification can reach 1.050 kcal/m (44x10 J/m3
or 0.118 MMBTU/Mscf), and syngas produced
from 1 kg of coal can reach 1.5-5.5 m3 (Ranalarko
and Khaeri, 2010).
Gas rumah kaca diproses dengan penyerapan CO2
geologi, yang melibatkan menyaring CO2 dari
udara, kemudian diinjeksikan ke batuan berpori
tinggi pada kedalaman 1-4 km di bawah tanah.
Secara Teoritis, nilai kalori dari gas yang
dihasilkan dari gasifikasi karbon bisa mencapai
1.050 kkal / m3 (44x103 J / m3 atau 0,118
MMBTU / Mscf), dan syngas yang dihasilkan dari 1
kg batu bara bisa mencapai 1,5-5,5 m3 (Ranalarko
dan Khaeri, 2010).
UCG Project Development
Before selecting a field for UCG process there are
several phases. The specific content of each phase
varies from project to project, depending on the data
available and other factors specific to the country or
region where the project is located. Based on Clean
Coal Ltd, there are four phases:
a. First phase : desk study
First phase is desk study where all information
about that site is collected in order to determine
the suitability for UCG, such as information of
geology, coal quality assessment, hidrogeology,
geographical and government regulation.
Geological information includes stratigraphic
logs, lithological descriptions, logging data,
structural data, geological history, geological
maps, seam contour plots, etc. Coal quality
information needed are type/rank, permeability,
density, ultimate analysis, and others.
Hidrogeology information is needed to avoid the
contamination of groundwater. The useful data of
hidrogeology are groundwater water
composition, chemical data, aquifer map,
hydraulic conductivity.
Geographical information requirements include
the current licence area location, the current land
use in and adjacent to the licence area, previous
land uses on the licence area, is the area subject
to flooding, extreme weather conditions or
changes in weather conditions (information on
the average weather conditions, rainfall, heat,
humidity, nearby rivers, lakes and mountains,
etc.), how close are the potential syngas markets,
geographical information on existing
infrastructures (roads, electricity network, gas
and oil pipeline network), and general
geographical information including population
data, topography etc. (Clean Coal Ltd.).
According to Clean Coal Ltd. (CCL), the
fundamental criteria of UCG projects are:
Each project should have a coal resource of at
least 100 million tons in situ. This is
sufficient to support 300-400MW of
electrical power production for
approximately 30 years, depending on the
specifics of the project.
There will be a compelling economic
rationale for the project including a defined
market for the syngas.
Terdapat alasan yang rasional pada proyek
tersebut termasuk pasar yang ditetapkan
untuk syngas yang diproduksi
Each project should have a CO2 solution
making total emissions less than those of
natural gas.
b. Second phase: exploration
Exploration acquires additional data on the coal
resource to enable a fulls site appraisal and
involves onsite primary monitoring, such as
groundwater monitoring after research in first
phase.
Eksplorasi memperoleh data tambahan pada
cadangan batubara agar memungkinkan
penilaian fulls site dan melibatkan monitoring
utama dilokasi, seperti monitoring airtanah
setelah penelitian tahap pertama.
c. Third Phase : pre-commercial
According to CCL, this phase is a relatively low
cost small-scale UCG project that gasifies the
coal of a single UCG module for a set period of
time, usually around 100 days. In this phase, the
optimum gasification conditions are
determined(dapat ditentukan) and contamination
and the impact(dampak) on the environment is
formally assessed(dapat ditaksir) for the
purposes of environmental regulation and
corporate responsibility. This ensures that the
commercial phase can be operated at optimal
conditions and gives confidence to stake holders,
such as regulators and any local population, that
the project is not adversely impacting the
environment. The purposes of this phase also
includes the determination of maximum coal
gasification rates and sustaining these rates for
set periods of time and the resource recovery.
During this phase, the syngas will be flared or
incinerated as the length of the operational phase
and planned changes in syngas output, renders
 commercial exploitation of the syngas
unfeasible.
Menurut CCL, fase ini adalah proyek UCG
skala kecil biaya yang relatif rendah yang
menjadi gas batubara dari modul UCG tunggal
untuk jangka waktu, biasanya sekitar 100 hari.
Pada fase ini, kondisi gasifikasi optimum
ditentukan dan kontaminasi dan dampak
terhadap lingkungan secara resmi dinilai untuk
keperluan regulasi lingkungan dan tanggung
jawab perusahaan. Hal ini memastikan bahwa
fase komersial dapat dioperasikan pada kondisi
optimal dan memberikan kepercayaan diri
kepada pemegang saham, seperti regulator dan
setiap penduduk setempat, bahwa proyek ini
tidak berdampak negatif lingkungan. Tujuan
dari fase ini juga mencakup penentuan tarif
gasifikasi batubara maksimum dan
mempertahankan tingkat ini untuk jangka waktu
tertentu dan pemulihan sumber daya. Selama
fase ini, syngas akan menyala atau dibakar
sebagai panjang dari fase operasional dan
perubahan dalam output syngas direncanakan,
menjadikan eksploitasi komersial dari syngas
tidak layak.
d. Fourth phase: commercial phase
According to CCL, the commercial phase aims
to steadily increase the output from initially two
modules operating simultaneously to the
maximum output, which may be 20 modules or
more. The syngas produced during the
commercial phase will be processed and used by
variety of potential end uses, ranging from
combustion of the syngas for electricity
generation to the production of very high quality
aviation fuels, and other products (Figure 5).
tahap komersial bertujuan untuk terus
meningkatkan output dari semula dua modul
yang beroperasi secara bersamaan untuk output
maksimum, yang mungkin 20 modul atau lebih.
Syngas yang dihasilkan selama fase komersial
akan diproses dan digunakan oleh berbagai
potensi penggunaan akhir, mulai dari
pembakaran syngas untuk pembangkit listrik
untuk produksi bahan bakar penerbangan
kualitas yang sangat tinggi, dan produk lainnya
The Challenges of Environment and Its Solutions
Although UCG has many advantages, there are still
some problems. First, UCG may impact
groundwater. In accordance to The National Coal
Council, INC, solutions that can be employed to
protect groundwater include :
- balancing operating conditions to minimize
outward transport of contamination from
improperly over-pressurized burn zones,
Iintinya menyeimbangkan kondisi operasional
guna mengurangi transportasi keluar
(kontaminasi gas) dari tekanan zona bakar yang
berlebihan yang tidak sesuai
- siting plants where geologic seals sufficiently
isolate the reactor from surrounding strata,
- selecting sites with favorable hydrogeology to
minimize widespread movement of potential
contaminants,
pemilihan sites dengan hidrogeologi yang
menguntungkan guna meminimalisir pergerakan
luas sebagai potensial kontaminasi
- isolating UCG locations from groundwater
resources (e.g., choosing deep seams),
- removing potential contaminants and undissolved
pyrolysis products after the reactor feedstock is
gasified.
A second problem is the issue of surface
subsidence. According to The National Coal
Council, INC, surface subsidence can be mitigated
using three key steps:
- appropriating site selection, including depth and
strength of rock volume,
- spacing of UCG reactors to leave walls and
pillars between produced zones,
- identifying and avoiding structural weaknesses,
such as pre-existing faults.
Comparison of UCG to other Coal Technologies
a. Comparison to Surface Mining
Surface mining exploits shallower coal seams
usually less than 200 meters depth. To relatively
high mining cost should be added the cost of
field discharge, transportation, pollutan cleanup,
ash capture and storage, etc.
b. Comparison to Underground Mining
Underground mining is used when coal seams
are deeper, usually greater than depth of 1000
meters. This mining isnt performed in coal
seams shallower than 50 meters in depth and
doesnt exploit coal seams over
10m thick whereas opencast mines have no
practical limit. (CCL).
c. Comparison to Surface Coal Gasification
According to CCL, surface gasification of coal
has not yet been widely undertaken to date. In
 South Africa, where the practise is most
common, coal is supplied from underground and
opencast operations utilize any low cost and low
quality bituminous coal.
d. Comparison to Coal Bed Methane (CBM)
Coal bed methane (CBM) is found in coals with a
high methane content (generally over 10 m3/t)
and is best used in relatively shallow deposits
where the reduced pressure improves the
recoverability due to higher permeability within
the coal seam. (Clean Coal Ltd.).
The Advantages of UCG
The advantages of UCG can be divided into several
aspects. The first aspect is environtmental. Based on
UCG Association, there are many environtmental
advantages of UCG technology, e.g. no coal is
brought to the surface so environmental impacts are
greatly reduced, no personnel are required below
ground, lower emissions of dangerous gasses (CO2,
SO2, NOx, HCN, SNO3, H2SO4) than carried out by
the burning of conventional coal mining. Then,
particulates are generated at half the rate of surface
equivalents and stay underground, lower fugitive
dust, noise, visual impact on the surface,
significantly smaller surface footprints at power
stations, no surface gasifier is required, low risk of
surface water pollution, reduced methane emissions,
rather than lost in the atmosphere as in most
conventional mining. UCG may not require an
external water source to operate, lower risk of
contaminated water discharges, no dirt handling and
disposal at mine sites, no coal washing and fines
disposal at mine sites, significant lower surface
hazard liabilities on abandonment and CO2 is
captured and removed.
The second aspect is economic. Based on UCG
Association, there are many economic advantages of
UCG technology, e.g. capital and operating costs are
lower than in traditional mining, reduced cost of
plant installation (no surface gasifier), syngas can be
piped directly to the end-user, reducing the need for
rail / road infrastructure, lowers the cost of
environmental clean - up, due to solid waste being
confined underground, manufacture of chemicals
such as ammonia and fertilizers, synthesis of liquid
fuels at low cost, less water required, gasification
takes place underground thereby reducing
environmental management and associated costs.
Syngas as the product of underground coal
gasification has many commercial benefits, not only
for power generation plants, iron and steel
manufacturing, gas to liquids processes and
fertilizer/methanol production, but also for enhanced
oil recovery (EOR) of mature oil fields (Clean Coal
Ltd.). EOR is a technique used to increase the
amount of crude oil that can be extracted from an oil
field through injecting gas into the oil bearing
stratum at high pressure.
CONCLUSION
The increase of oil and natural gas price with
increasing energy demand, make coal an
economically attractive energy source. Indonesia has
huge coal reserves and half of them are low-medium
caloric and rank, so in this region, UCG is one the
best solutions. Otherwise, UCG is very clean, safe
and affordable technology to be implemented,
because utilization of conventional mining of coal
for power generation produces high levels of
pollutant gases.
Underground Coal Gasification is a one step
extraction process (like coal mining) with a
conversion process (gasification). It produces a high
quality, affordable synthetic gas (Syngas) which
can be processed to provide fuels for power
generation, diesel fuels, fertilisers, hydrogens and
chemical feedstock. UCG technology can recover
up to 80% of the calorific value of coal a significant
increase over other coal extraction methods.
Additionally, UCG, can use virtually all types of
coal (including brown and lignitic coals) provided
the seam is over 5m (CCL). When combined with
CO2 storage in the depleted coal seams,
UCG creates a source of energy that rivals nuclear
for low emissions and has lower unit costs than
conventional gas-fired power stations.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author acknowledges all lecturers of Geological
Engineering Universitas Diponegoro, and her
advisor lecturer, Mr. Dian Agus, ST. MT for his
guidance during the writing of this paper. And the
author is so grateful to Geological Engineering
Undip 2009 who always supported and helped her
to finish this paper.
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Table 1 - World Coal Reserves, Red Circle Shows Indonesian Coal Reserves Reach 0.6% of Word Coal
Reserves (BPs Statistical Review of World Energy, 2011)

Figure 1 - Indonesia Coal Basins, there are 21 basins in Indonesia that produce coal
(Direktorat Jenderal Mineral dan Batubara, 2011)
 Figure 2 - The percentage of Indonesia coal quality based on caloric value, shows about 24.4% of
Indonesian coal is low caloric value and 61.4% is medium caloric value. It is in these regions that UCG has
much to offer. (Geological Resources Centre, 2006)

Figure 3 - Development of Underground Coal Gasification around the world

(Clean Coal Ltd. on UCG Association)
Figure 4 - The Basic UCG Process: there are 2 wells, first well is injection well, and the second well is
production well (UCG Association)

Figure 5 - The product of UCG is syngas that has many uses, such as power generation, methanol
production, chemical feedstock, and many others (Clean Coal Ltd.)