' BUREAU OF MINES LIBRARY

CO. CERNING THE UNDERGROOND CASIFICATIOll Of' COAL

By
N. V. Lavrov
(Ve stnik Akad. Nault SSSR 1 6, Jun 1954J pp. ~ 3)

Underground ga ItlcaUon 01' coal to which the rovlew reterred in

91 a.s 1:; 1ng "one 01' ttc gre t achievements of teclmo1ogy" 18 one 01' the most
import t sc1 ntltlc an~ t cbno1ogical problecs of ~ times .

The Soviet Uni. the lead 1n effecting underground gasifIcation

ot c • The firs t exper1ren+A 1n this t i eld were started in 1932. PrIor to
the Gr ~;t War tor the P'atberl ,tne p03s1bllity of direct Ifieat ion of coal.
in situ detnOl'lstrated at the experimental ItPodz.emgaz" st atiOlle.

During the postwar period, sbattless preparation ot coal sums for

gaa:!..fic .t.ion vns carried out at t ~scov brown cO&l d~osit8 . Since that
t.!.IIle, .ilstrial exploitaticn of th coal depo ita without underground labor baa
been continued for a number ot y ara.

At the same time, rground ga.aifie~tlon ot cO&l end U%ldergrO'Wl4

distill tton ct oil shale are b ins carr1ed out.

SUlIC1ng up to achievements in this area, 1t can b sai d that the

first. stege In the problem ot underground gas1f).~tiOll of coal i n the Soviet Union
bas been 901 cd. Soviet scientists have provided the scientific fOWldat1ons 01'
the c e 1cal technology ot lmder&Tound gasIfication of coal . Re searchers in. this
neld ":-e expanding. A model-scole pro~!lCJ utilizing the newest exper1lilental.
th Is planned. Work is progressing 14 the stuay o"r the mechanism e.nd kine-
tics 01 t .. gaSification ractions (carbon monoxide ccnverolon, camuatiCG or
vehicle ), dynamic8 of gas formatIon, and on the devalcpment of a canputatlon
system for tIe precoDs of' underground gas f'ication of coal.
SoViet scientists and engineers are volV1ng mos t eft~tlve pro-
cedure tor the! obattleas preparation of underground gas generat ors and success-
ful :."Caults can be anticipated in the very t'~ future.

The currt"nt otage of development of u. g. of eoal 1s ehN-aeterized by

a continuation of steadily 1ncrE'asing 1nclustrlal operatlcns with exteMlve and im-
portant scientific reee> "':!h alld e.q;.:rl.menta . For this purpose I the All-Unicm
Scient'" _ic Researeh and Pla.:m!ng Instltu'te of Underground GasUlcatial of Coal waa
established in th po tw.r period.

The eanplex, canp05Ite nature of t he problem o"r u.g. requires "ror U.

r .solutlon the vide collaboration Ot various s cientific establishments. At tM
present t ,rescarch...os relati.lg to underground gasIfIcation of coL!. are ea.rrl~
out with the particlpo.tlO1l of e:i..even 1nst1tut S ot the USSR Aced_ o"r Seiences,
tvo academies o"r science of Union Republics and five Indust rial Branc'.! InstItutes
of tb& M1n1stry of Coal InuuStry. Theoret1 ~al and lAiboratOl'Y' research i8 caooined
wIth experimental work under field condit I ons , vh1ch constitutes the decisi ve phase
which ensures t :t the results or sci Dune y ork will be put into induatrial prac_
t..:.ce

L
 In th forthcoming years th OllUDe ~ ecient1tlc research york 00
this probl Yill incr e conaiderably. The inati tutes of the USSR Ac8l.'1elqy of
Sci ncea will intensIty conal rably thoir research on problems of th theory and
technology or u.g. ot coal, will call on lar~ _ or ot scient1sts tor t1.eir
participation, and expand considerably the ~~ tal labOl'atory tac1l1t ..... s. The
.lc ~ role will be allocated to th lnat1tute of' Mineral Fuels aDd 1u tb1a eoonec-
t10n 1ts wo.rk-plan 18 being revised.

This change-over rill b !Df!Ide in conJunction with an expenaico or the

technical faciliti B ot the "Podzemgaz" statiClll8;! and cons1derabl improvement in
th ir technlcGl and ecocanic p,rformance 1nd1ees. Even in 1ts present stage of
dey lOp:Dent, u.g. ot ce&1 has attained in the working ot brown coal depoalts 1nd1ces
mate thos(! of the hanized m:1 a. RcMmtr ,ug. or coal. has great potentiali-
ties tor improv t and the possibilIty ot coasidere.bly reduc1.ng tbe prime coats
ot s.
The bade trU1d b u.g. or coal is t t of power engineering, 1.e.,
the comb1ning of Podzemgaz stations with electric power stations. The problem ot
the most etticient utilization ot gaa produced by the underground gasit1eatioa of
coal. 1a associated with th use of gas tur b'l.nes • 01 no les8er importance. but even
more complex, 1s the prool ot teriag th production ot industr1el. gaa for the
purpose ot manufacturing synthetic &rlIDOIli and liquid tv.els.

A number ot m1 01 ng aDd geological problems will have to be solved.

Drainage of coal beds, control of gas channels and ot rock behavior during u.g. (1'lll-
in.:. of vo1ds resulting fran gaaI1'ication), development ot system ~or degas1f'.ying
a 81!riea ot converg!Dg stra~, etc.

u.g. of coal requir.'ts conBiderablo drilling operatIons involving the

olnk1ug of vert1cal and slanting boreholes within the coal. bed. The latter rorm or
drill1Dg 1s being successfully practiced at the Podzemgaz statione however, in those
fields also, a number ~ problems DlWJt be solved which are connected with the
apeci1'ic characterIs~tes ot u.g.

u.g. ot coal coa1'roat. th sei011tiats and experts with new prabl_

of D.utomatic operations and cantrol. In additIon to above-ground controls aDd the
provision of tully autaDatie proees8ing at the shope d in4.lStrial gas gemtrator., 1t
1s necessary to have coatrol over work conducted at considerable depth levels by
~cw methods. First of all, it is necessary' to insure cantrol over the loeatian or
th~ combustion zone, the dimensIons and nature ot the react10n cbaDnel, degree of
de 1fication of the coal depoSits, direction or leaks of 1nblown air aDd 8B8,
temper ture control, control and regulation or predetermined drIlling ot boreholes, etc.

The solution ot the complex problems involved in the \.UlI:brground

gas1f1cation ot coal is the goal. of: scientists in various branch~. o~ knowledge.
All the scIentific-technological cont~t8 of this country must be called. upon tor
participation in this work. Rapid development ot u.g. of coal 10 an hoaor task of
the 1 841ng Soviet sciences.

L
.. .
/