CBM

COAL BED METHANE (CBM)

 Coal bed methane is simply methane found in coal seams.

 CBM is generated either from a biological process as a result

of microbial action or from a thermal process as a result of
increasing heat with depth of the coal.

 Often a coal seam is saturated with water, with methane held

in the coal by water pressure.

 Currently, natural gas from coal beds accounts for

approximately 7% of total natural gas production in the
United States
EXTRACTION OF METHANE FROM A COAL
SEAM?

 Since CBM travels with ground water in coal seams,

extraction of CBM involves pumping available water from the
seam in order to reduce the water pressure that holds gas in
the seam.

 CBM has very low solubility in water and readily separates as

pressure decreases, allowing it to be piped out of the well
separately from the water.

 Water moving from the coal seam to the well bore encourages
gas migration toward the well.
CONTD …….
 CBM producers try not to dewater the coal seam, but rather
seek to decrease the water pressure (or head of water) in the
coal seam to just above the top of the seam. However,
sometimes the water level drops into the coal seam.
ARE COAL SEAMS AQUIFER?
 Yes.
 Water flows through fractures (or cleats) in the coal
seam and if the cleat system is well developed and has
enough water to pump and produce an economically
viable and feasible water supply, the seam can be an
aquifer.
 Coal seams are the most regionally continuous geologic
unit in the Powder River Basin and have aquifer
characteristics equal to or better than sandstones, so are
frequently targeted for water-well completions.
COAL
 A sedimentary rock that burns
 Mineralized vegetative material deposited over a
long period of time
 Altered chemical composition

 Formed by increased T & P

 Partial decay resulting from restricted access to

oxygen
Scientific Definition
 Coal is organoclastic sedimentary rock, derived
from plant debris.
COAL FORMATION
 Coal seams usually originate from peat deposited in
swamps.
 The following factors are crucial in the development
of peat swamp.
 The evolutionary development of flora
 Climate
 Paleogeographic and tectonic requirements

 Stages in coal formation:

 Bio-chemical stage or peat forming stage
 Geochemical stage or transformation of peat in to
higher rank coal
DIFFERENT STAGE OF COAL FORMATION
THE GEOLOGICAL BASIS OF COAL
FORMATION

1. ORIGIN OF PEAT SWAMP

2. PEAT GROWTH, COMPRESSION AND THE

TIME OF COAL FORMATION

3. DEVELOPMENT OF COAL FACIES

4. DIAGENESIS OF PEAT AND COALIFICATION

1. ORIGIN OF PEAT SWAMP
 Coal seams usually originate from peat deposited
in swamps. The following factors are crucial in the
development of peat swamp.
 The evolutionary development of flora:
 The oldest coal (anthracite) has been recorded in Algoncium in
the middle Huronian of Michigan
 Lower Devonian - Thin Coal Seams occur in Germany
 Record of first land plant found in carbonaceous shales of lower
Emsian Age in Germany
 Middle and Upper Devonian - Plants spread over continents
rapidly. Coal Seams (3 - 4 m thick ) reported but not economical
 Lower carboniferous - No report of any economic Coal deposit
 Upper carboniferous -“Bituminous -Coal Period” luxuriant forest
swamps -trees like Lepidodendron and Sigillaria attained height
s upto 30 m
1. ORIGIN OF PEAT SWAMP
 Permian - Coal deposit all over Gondwana land
 Jurassic - Coal deposits of Siberia and central Asiatic
localities Gymnosperms were main contributors to Peat
development during these two
 Lower and Upper Cretaceous - Very rich floral development -
specially angiosperms
 Tertiary - Major Coal deposits throughout the world - Swamp
plants more diverse and specialized
 Climate
 The warmer and wetter the climate, the more luxuriant is
the flora swamps - Trees attain heights upto 30 m within 7-9
years.
 Temperate Swamps - Trees grow up to height of 5-6m in 7-9
years
 Important Coal forming periods - Upper carboniferous Upper
Cretaceous and tertiary - when richest Coal deposits are
formed witnessed moist warm climate
 1. ORIGIN OF PEAT SWAMP
 The coal deposits of Southern hemisphere and in Siberia were
formed in humid temperate to cool climates

Formation of Coal

MOIST WARM CLIMATE TEMPERATE OR COOL

•Formed from luxuriant flora
CLIMATES
•Formed from stunted flora
•Contains broad vitrain bands
•Thin Vitrain bands
•Thick Coal Seams
•Thin Coal Seams
•less mineral matter
•High mineral matter
1. ORIGIN OF PEAT SWAMP
 Paleogeographic and tectonic requirements
Prerequisites for the development of thick peat deposits
and consequently for the formation of Coal Seams are:
 Slow continuous rise of groundwater table which keeps abreast
of peat formation, i.e. subsidence.
 Protection of swamp (by beaches, Sand bars, spits etc.) against
major inundations by the stream and (by natural levees)
against river flood waters.
 A low relief energy of the hinterland and therefore a restricted

supply of fluvial sediments which otherwise would interrupt

peat formation.
2. PEAT GROWTH, COMPRESSION AND
THE TIME OF COAL FORMATION
 Annual growth rate of Swamp peats :
 Temperate Zone : 1 - 2 mm
 Tropical Zone : 3 - 4 mm.

 Compression :
 Compressional from peat to bituminous stage is
considerable
 It depends on the facies : forest moor compress less
than reed forests
 Amount of compression can be measured by means of
seam inclusions
 It has been suggested that compression from peat to
lignite to bituminous coal is in the proportion of 6:3:1
 1 m of peat yields < 20 cm of Bituminous coal.
2. PEAT GROWTH, COMPRESSION AND
THE TIME OF COAL FORMATION
 TIME : Can be estimated by the annual rings
preserved in the protected stumps.
 A thickness of 1m of bituminous coal probably
represents accumulation over approximately 6000 -
9000 years.
3. DEVELOPMENT OF COAL FACIES
 The term ‘Coal Facies’ refers to the primary genetic
types of coal, which are dependent on the milieu
under which the peats originate.
 The facies of coal expresses itself through the
maceral and mineral contents of coal.
 The following factors determine the primary
characteristics of coal seams:
 the type of deposition (autochthonous, allochthonous)
 The depositional milieu (telmatic, limnic, brackish
marine, calcium rich)
 The peat forming plant communities
 open water areas with water plants, open reed swamps
frequently with sedges, forest swamps and moss swamps
3. DEVELOPMENT OF COAL FACIES
 Nutrient supply (eutrophic, mesotrophic,
oligotrophic).
 pH value, bacterial activity, sulphur supply

 Temperature of the peat

 The redox potential (aerobic, anaerobic)

4. DIAGENESIS OF PEAT AND
COALIFICATION
 Peat diagenesis (peatification)
 Peatification embraces microbial and chemical changes called
‘biochemical coalification’
 Subsequently it passes into ‘geochemical coalification’ which is
devoid of any microbial activity
 Most intense peatification process takes place down to a depth of
0.5 m upto this zone bacteria and fungi are very active
 with increasing depth the process is taken over by anaerobic
bacteria.
 microbial life is reduced and extinguished finally, usually at
depths of less than 10 m, below which the chemical changes
occur, primarily condensation, polymerization and reducing
reactions
 The most important process during peatification is the formation
of humic substances. This process is promoted by oxygen
supply, high temperature of peat and alkaline environment.
4. DIAGENESIS OF PEAT AND
COALIFICATION
 Coalification:
 The transformation of peat into lignite , sub-
bituminous coal, bituminous coal, anthracite and finally
into meta-anthracite is termed coalification
GEOCHEMICAL STAGE OF
TRNSFORMATION
 Degree of coalification (which is essentially a
change brought to the organic deposit ) is estimated
predominantly by chemical parameters such as:
 Carbon
 Hydrogen
 Oxygen
 Volatile matter

 or by optical properties:
 Reflectivity of Vitrinite
 Fluorescence intensity of liptinites

 The optical properties can be correlated with

chemical composition.
LITHOTYPES IN COALS

Vitrain
Durain

Vitrain

Durain
LITHOTYPES IN COALS

Clarain Fusain
DUAL POROSITY SYSTEM
Secondary Porosity
Primary Porosity Natural fractures
PRODUCTION MECHANISM

 Sorption – Microporosity (nm scale)

 Diffusion – Mesoporosity (nm scale)

 Darcy flow – Natural Fracture Porosity (cm scale)

 Pipe flow – Induced Fracture (m scale)

COAL GAS RESERVOIR PROPERTIES

 Primary porosity system

 Solid organic and inorganic material

 Micropores (<2 nm) and

 Mesopores ( ≥ 2 and ≤ 50 nm)

 Methane eq. diameter 0.4 nm

 Isolated macropores (> 50 nm and ≤ 1 mm)

 Contains water

 Contains sorbed gas

COAL GAS RESERVOIR PROPERTIES

 Secondary porosity system

 Interconnected macropores (> 50 nm and ≤ 1 mm)

 Interconnected natural fractures ( > 1 mm)

 Contains mobile water

 Contains free and dissolved gas

TOTAL GAS-IN-PLACE

In primary
Sorbed gas porosity

Gas in coal

Gas in fracture system

In secondary
porosity
SORBED GAS-IN-PLACE RELATIONSHIP

GIP = A h ρb Gc

ft scf/ton
scf

GIP = 1359.7 A h ρb Gc

acre
gm/cc
DRAINAGE AREA SOURCES

 Geologic and engineering studies

 Mapping of areal extent

 Offset of well production rates

 Material balance / reservoir simulation analysis

 Arbitrary regions, i.e, basin or geologic horizon

 Ownership limits

 Well spacing
COAL DENSITY SOURCES

 Density log interpretation

 Analogy: 1.25 to 1.5 gm/cc

THICKNESS FROM LOGS

 Density log – conventional and high resolution

 Gamma ray log

 Neutron log

 Resistivity – conventional and micrologs

 Mud log

 Caliper log
CORE SAMPLES
DESORPTION CANISTER
GAS CONTENT
 Reported in units of scf/ton
 Canister desorption test (the “Direct Method”)
 Freshly cut conventional core sample placed in a
canister
 Amount of gas released is measured as a function of
time
 Test must be conducted at reservoir temperature
 Volumes must be corrected for ambient pressure
variation
 “lost gas” and “residual gas” for total desorbed gas
volume evaluation
 “Lost gas” is volume of the gas that desorbs from the sample during the recovery process before the core sample
can be sealed in a desorption canister.
 “Residual gas” is the gas that remains sorbed on the sample at the conclusion of the canister desorption test.
LOST GAS
 Estimated from the desorption tests
 A partial differential equation describes constant temperature
diffusion following an instantaneous change in boundary gas
concentration
 Cumulative desorbed gas is proportional to the square root of
the elapsed time since the inception of gas desorption
 The inception of gas desorption is referred to as “time zero”
which usually occurs during the core recovery process
 Proper estimation of the “time zero” has a significant impact
on the accuracy of the estimated lost gas volume
 The greatest source of error in the total gas content estimate
RESIDUAL GAS

 Estimated by crushing the entire desorption sample

 Crush the sample to 60 mesh grain size

 Measure the gas volume released @ the reservoir

temperature.
TOTAL GAS

 @ STP

 Divide it by the mass of the sample

 Unit is scf / ton

 Basis
 raw basis
 air-dry basis
 dry, ash-free basis
 dry, mineral-matter-free basis
 “pure coal” basis (i.e. zero ash and moisture content)
 in-situ basis.
WHAT IS SORPTION?

 A phenomenon common to many microporous

material

 Caused by high surface area to pore volume ratio:

108 sq ft per cu ft

 An attraction between solid and fluid molecules

 Sorbed gas density increases to near liquid density

RELATIVE ADSORPTION STRENGTH
GAS CONTENT VS. STORAGE CAPACITY

 Gas storage capacity: Gas storage potential

 Gas content: Gas contained within the coal

 Gas content ≤ Gas storage capacity

ISOTHERM MEASUREMENTS

 Performed on crushed samples

 Representative split from single desorption sample
(relatively low ash content)

 Composite sample to represent average of interval of

interest

 Sample must be fresh

 Oxidation reduces storage capacity

 Difficult to determine correct equilibrium moisture

content
LANGMUIR ISOTHERM
TWO COMPONENT ISOTHERM
PRODUCED GAS COMPOSITION VARIATION
GAS RECOVERY FACTOR
GAS RECOVERY FACTOR
 Fraction recovered due to pressure depletion
 Fraction of the gross thickness that contributes to
production
 Fraction of the assumed drainage area that
contributes to production

f g = f p fh f A
REQUIRED DATA AND THEIR SOURCES FOR
ANALYSIS OF CBM RESERVOIRS
GAS IN FRACTURE SYSTEM

φAh(1 − SW )
V=
Bg
FLUID FLOW IN COAL

 Single phase gas diffusion through coal matrix

 Two phase fluid flow through the fracture system

GAS DESORPTION / DIFFUSION
Fick’s Law:

where
 DIFFUSION

Diffusivity and shape factor are usually combined into one parameter,
referred to as sorption time, as follows:

Sorption time (τ ) is the time required to desorb 63.2 percent of the

initial gas volume.
FLOW THROUGH FRACTURES
 Darcy’s law can adequately represent the two-
phase flow in the cleat system
FLUID PRODUCTION
 As the desorption process continues, gas saturation
within the cleat system increases and flow of
methane becomes increasingly more dominant
 Water production declines rapidly until the gas rate
reaches the peak value and water saturation
approaches the irreducible water saturation
 After the peak gas rate production is achieved, the
behavior of CBM reservoirs becomes similar to
conventional gas reservoirs
TYPICAL PRODUCTION HISTORY OF A
CBM RESERVOIR
CAPTURE THE IDEA
Conventional reservoir engineering techniques
cannot be used to predict CBM production behavior

 Gas production from CBM reservoirs takes place

through:
 complex interaction
 single-phase gas diffusion through micropores and,
 two-phase flow through the cleat system

 They are coupled through the desorption process.

 Best tool to understand a CBM reservoir
 Numerical simulator
 History matching
CHANGING STRESS BEHAVIOR
 Coal is relatively compressible compared to the
conventional reservoir rocks
 Permeability is stress dependent
 Orientation and magnitude of stress
 Stress pattern during reservoir production
 Vertical stress doesn’t change
 Change in pore pressure result in changes in effective stress
 Porosity and permeability will decrease as we produce the
reservoir
 Gas desorption is thought to cause reduction of the bulk
volume of coal matrix
 Thus the pore volume of fracture system is hypothesized to
increase
 Resulting in increase in fracture system porosity and
permeability
COAL PERMEABILITY IS NOT CONSTANT

 Water saturation reduction (effective permeability)

 Increases gas and reduces water relative permeability

 Pressure reduction (absolute & relative permeability)

 Net stress increase reduces natural fracture porosity and
permeability

 Gas content reduction (absolute & relative permeability)

 Matrix shrinkage increases natural fracture porosity and
permeability
 Fluids flow to the wellbore through the natural fracture
system (i.e. cleats)
 Production rate is greatly affected by the flow properties
of natural fracture system
 Absolute permeability
 Relative permeability
 Pressure transient system to accurately estimate in-situ
fracture permeability
 Measurements on core samples are not representative
 Characteristics of coal reservoirs
 Dual porosity system
 Two phase flow
 Stress dependent properties
 Multiple seams
CBM VS. CONVENTIONAL RESERVOIRS