Career Episode 1

Introduction
CE 1.1.1
Location: Dehradun India
University: University of Petroleum and Energy Studies
Semester: (Please enter)
Course: (Please enter)
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Background
CE 1.2.1
Drainage system of the coal bed provides a great amount of safety and security within the underground
mines. The drainage system of the bead of coal also provides various benefits in terms of environmental
healthiness. A better drainage system for methane can reduce the number of accidents regarding
methane combustion and also decreases quantity for emissions of greenhouse gases into the
environment and therefore I chose to work on this project. However, the proper drainage system of a
mine can only be determined by mining practitioners and engineers based on the nature of the mine.

CE 1.2.2
Coal as a resource of mineral with combustible nature plays an essential role in the economy all over the
world. As a process of exploitation of coal, underground mining is applied in a vast amount. In
underground mining, there is a possible chance of various accidents and disasters. The mining in the
underground is prone to emit coal bed methane gas that can be disastrous in case of an accident. Most
of the accidents happening in underground mines have mostly occurred because of methane or
methane-related components. Methane-related accidents contribute to a great number of percentage
accidents related to coal mining or any type of mining process. As per my research, methane is generally
undertaken as a dangerous element in the case of underground mining. An outburst of mining gas and
methane is more common in the process of underground mining. Incidents related to methane are
always prone to do a lot of damage to a large amount of property. On the other hand, a lot of casualties
and losses are also recorded in the case of accidents related to methane outbursts.

CE 1.2.3
In recent days mining systems are developing day by day and increasing the possible chances of
accidents in the mine. In order to decrease the number of fatalities and casualties in the mines, the
development of a methane drainage system is important. As a result, a prominent focus on the topic of
the emission of CBM in the mines is prone to disasters related to methane gas. Methane presented in an
underground mine should be decreased to a safe level to restrain possible occurrences. As a result, a
more efficient and safe process of mining can be provided to the workers working in the underground
mines. However, apart from ensuring the safety of the mine, a proper methane drainage system also
reduces the amount of greenhouse gas and creates a source of natural gas. Methane can be used as a
combustible natural gas to reduce the amount of pollution in the environment. Aside from the fact of
methane being used as a natural gas source, the quality of the gas also depends on the characteristics of
the coal present in the mine. As a result, the design of the methane drainage system should be
compatible with containing various types of gases regarding the fact of their nature..

CE 1.2.4
The design and development of the methane drainage system proposed in this project is based on the
various problems faced by the underground mining system. The emission of methane gas also poses
threat to the environment resulting in increased pollution in nature. As a result, the design of the
methane drainage system that I proposed in the project had the aim to decrease all the occurrences of
methane combusting and storing the gas to use as a biogas source.

CE 1.2.5
I performed this project under the kind supervision of a senior faculty member. I was directly reporting
to him for this project.

Supervisor

Me as a
student

Personal Engineering Activity

CE 1.3.1
Drainage and emission of methane are purely based on the characteristics of the generation and storage
system of methane. On the other hand, the migration of methane gas is based on the process of
emission, permeability, and porosity of the coal bed. I researched on the review of generation, drainage,
and migration of methane in this project.

CE 1.3.2
Generation of the methane gas in the coal bed is based on the process of coalification. Thermogenic and
biogenic are the two main driving sources in the process of methane generation. The content of
methane gas is more in the thermogenic process compared to the methane extracted in the biogenic
process. Organisms that only can be seen by a microscope play an important role in the biogenic
methane extraction process. Bacteria presented in the coal bed initiate the process of fragmentation of
the molecules in macro format. The initial process of fragmentation is based on oxidation and
fermentation, anaerobic in nature. In another word, archaea presented in the coal bed helps the
generation process of CH4. Production of methane within laboratory is augmented 300% in case
temperature increases 22 degrees Celsius to 38 degrees Celsius. In the case of decreasing the Ph value
from 7.4 to 6.4, the production of methane is increased by 680%. In another words, the process of
thermogenic methane generation produces more methane content compared to the biogenic method.

CE 1.3.3
95% of the methane gas within a coal is present in the form of adsorption in the matrix. Apart from most
of the methane in adsorption form, the rest amount of the methane is stored in various pores. The
pores within coal can be different by various cleats or scales that can be free or solute based on their
nature. In the process of removing the coal from the underground, methane present in the coal starts to
desorb. Desorption and adsorption of the methane gas is important for determining the properties of
the coal. Both processes largely affect the design and development of the methane drainage system
proposed in this project, and therefore, I decided to study it in detail and also mention in my project
report.

CE 1.3.4
The isotherm test of adsorption is basic in nature and can reveal the ability to hold the gas of the coal.
As a result of the process, the pressure of the gas first increases with the increasing amount of CH4 until
the point of reaching the maximum value possible. I used the Langmuir equation for finding out the
relationship of adsorption and pressure:

The desorption process of methane gas in the test is exactly the opposite of the methane adsorption
method. I collected the samples of the coals from the seam of the coal present underground. After the
process of collection, I placed the coal samples in a container with no possibility of leakage. During the
time of adsorption measurement, three parts of the divination of the test was observed. The parts
included the lost amount of methane, the amount of measured methane, and a residual amount of
methane. In case of further determination of residual methane gas, the sample of coals was crushed
into smaller samples around 250 μm.

CE 1.3.5
Coal found in most underground mines has a structure of dual-porosity surrounded by the cleats. The
coal also possesses numerous amounts of the porous matrix within the structure resulting in containing
a great amount of methane. The migration process of methane is related to the permeability and
porosity of the extracted coal. Porosity of the coal is one of the most important characteristics in case of
the amount of methane present in the coal. In the matrix of coals, large amounts of pores are present
resulting in holding a large amount of methane gas. The pores within the core can be divided into three
types: mesopores, macropores, and micropores based on their size.

CE 1.3.6
The adsorption method of methane mainly happens in the micropores. Mesopores and micropores in
the matrix structure work as a transport system of conduits. In recent years, the excessive amount of
coal mining in shallow coal compacted areas resulted in decreasing the permeability of the coal. As a
result, various measures had been introduced to increase the permeability of coal. In the situ thermal
process of recovering the gas from the pours the bed of coal was heated by applying a force of hot
water on the coalbed. Effects after the application of hot water were investigated to bring the possible
outcomes needed for the test. However, the situ thermal method can only able to extend the gas
recovery to a certain point.

CE 1.3.7
In the method of SIS drainage system of methane, the drilling process of well was done from the surface
to reach the desired coal seam. The well drilled from the surface goes within the bed of the coal and
intersects the well based on vertical production. In each of the seams of coal, two wells are drilled based
on a chevron pattern that intersects the same production section. Permeability in the coals plays
significant role towards selection process of the CBM. The proposed system of SIS system is highly
capable of providing high permeability in the coal beds. Providing high permeability in the beds of coal
enhances the drainage system of the gas. As a reason for providing a high level of safety and good
performance in the drainage system of methane, the wells are drilled from both surface and the top.
The proposed design also has some flaws regarding the high-cost maintenance for the involvement of
various long boreholes. Building method of this system can also be time-consuming for most of the
underground mines.

CE 1.3.8
The test implementation of my proposed design showed that the content of methane in the longwall
draining panels decreases by 30% after two months. On the other hand, 80% of the methane drainage
content decreased after 10 months of using the draining panels. As a result, it had been suggested that a
minimum of 6 month usage was essential for maximizing the performance of methane extraction from
the boreholes. However, the working period of drainage boreholes is not supposed to be so much inside
an underground mining system.

CE 1.3.9
Minimum a time period of 6-12 months of methane draining was required before the starting of any
kind of mining. The mentioned time period helped to degasify the targeted panel of mining providing a
better and safer environment for the workers. A system of methane drainage was used for shielding the
excavation of the roadway in the seam of the coal. Proposed drainage system consists of a high amount
of gas and a low amount of permeability. Slotting based on hydraulic mechanics within the borehole is
implemented for increasing the permeability of the coal and the efficiency of methane drainage
performance.

CE 1.3.10
After the implementation of the boreholes, in around 15 days I observed the concentration of the
methane gas around the borehole to be 26%. As a result, I inferred that the sealing performance of the
boreholes should be improved for better performance in methane draining. Test of the boreholes was
conducted in the mines that were prone to occurrences regarding the methane gas outburst. As a
possible way of preventing the threat of gas combust scenarios, a composite sealing element was
developed mainly based on cement.

CE 1.3.11
The designed material was used to seal the borehole for drainage based on the cross-measure method.
On the other hand, the results of the test also indicated that the concentration of drained gas was
capable of keeping 60%-80 % within the first month of implementation. Draining performance using the
traditional material for sealing was found to be better as compared to the methane draining
performance using the designed boreholes. However, aside from the fact of better compatibility of the
designs, all the proposed designs were capable of reducing the percentage of methane inside the
underground mine.
Summary
CE 1.4.1
As per all the various methods and implementation of the proposed design in this project, I concluded
that the proposed drainage system was capable of decreasing the amount of methane within the
underground mines. In other words, the design that I proposed successfully delivered multiple benefits
including enhancing safety and productivity in the mines, providing a good natural gas source, and
reducing the number of emissions of GHG.