Evaluation of a Compact Coaxial Underground Coal Gasification System Inside an Artificial Coal Seam

The Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) system is a clean technology for obtaining energy from coal. The coaxial UCG system is supposed to be compact and flexible in order to adapt to complicated geological conditions caused by the existence of faults and folds in the ground. In this study, the application of a coaxial UCG system with a horizontal well is discussed, by means of an ex situ model UCG experiment in a large-scale simulated coal seam with dimensions of 550 × 600 × 2740 mm. A horizontal well with a 45-mm diameter and a 2600-mm length was used as an injection/production well. During the experiment, changes in temperature field and product gas compositions were observed when changing the outlet position of the injection pipe. It was found that the UCG reactor is unstable and expands continuously due to fracturing activity caused by coal crack initiation and extension under the influence of thermal stress. Therefore, acoustic emission (AE) is considered an effective tool to monitor fracturing activities and visualize the gasification zone of coal. The results gathered from monitoring of AEs agree with the measured data of temperatures; the source location of AE was detected around the region where temperature increased. The average calorific value of the produced gas was 6.85 MJ/Nm3, and the gasification efficiency, defined as the conversion efficiency of the gasified coal to syngas, was 65.43%, in the whole experimental process. The study results suggest that the recovered coal energy from a coaxial UCG system is comparable to that of a conventional UCG system. Therefore, a coaxial UCG system may be a feasible option to utilize abandoned underground coal resources without mining

Effect of Injection Flow Rate on Product Gas Quality in Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) Based on Laboratory Scale Experiment: Development of Co-Axial UCG System

Underground coal gasification (UCG) is a technique to recover coal energy without mining by converting coal into a valuable gas. Model UCG experiments on a laboratory scale were carried out under a low flow rate (6~12 L/min) and a high flow rate (15~30 L/min) with a constant oxygen concentration. During the experiments, the coal temperature was higher and the fracturing events were more active under the high flow rate. Additionally, the gasification efficiency, which means the conversion efficiency of the gasified coal to the product gas, was 71.22% in the low flow rate and 82.42% in the high flow rate. These results suggest that the energy recovery rate with the UCG process can be improved by the increase of the reaction temperature and the promotion of the gasification area

Monitoring and evaluation of simulated underground coal gasification in an ex-situ experimental artificial coal seam system

In this study, to better simulate underground coal gasification (UCG), an artificial coal seam was constructed to use as a simulated underground gasifier, which comprised coal blocks excavated from the coal seam. This study reports the process and results of three independently designed experiments using coaxial-hole and linking-hole UCG models: (a) a coaxial model using a coaxial pipeline as a gasification channel, (b) a coaxial model using the coaxial pipeline combined with a bottom cross-hole, and (c) a linking-hole model using a horizontal V-shaped cross-hole. In the present work, the fracturing activities and cavity growth inside the reactor were monitored with acoustic emission (AE) technologies. During the process, the temperature profiles, gas production rate, and gas content were measured successively. The results show that AE activities monitored during UCG process are significantly affected by operational variables such as feed gas rate, feed gas content, and linking-hole types. Moreover, the amount of coal consumed during UCG process were estimated using both of the stoichiometric approach and balance computation of carbon (C) based on the product gas contents. A maximum error of less than 10% was observed in these methods, in which the gas leakage was also considered. This demonstrates that the estimated results using the proposed stoichiometric approach could be useful for evaluating energy recovery during UCG

Effect of Injection Flow Rate on Product Gas Quality in Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) Based on Laboratory Scale Experiment: Development of Co-Axial UCG System

Underground coal gasification (UCG) is a technique to recover coal energy without mining by converting coal into a valuable gas. Model UCG experiments on a laboratory scale were carried out under a low flow rate (6~12 L/min) and a high flow rate (15~30 L/min) with a constant oxygen concentration. During the experiments, the coal temperature was higher and the fracturing events were more active under the high flow rate. Additionally, the gasification efficiency, which means the conversion efficiency of the gasified coal to the product gas, was 71.22% in the low flow rate and 82.42% in the high flow rate. These results suggest that the energy recovery rate with the UCG process can be improved by the increase of the reaction temperature and the promotion of the gasification area

Discrete epipolar geometry

International audienc

Materiał wypełniający z popiołem lotnym i żużlem jako środkiem smarnym w przeciskaniu rur pod kwaśnymi gruntami siarczanowymi

The pipe jacking method is relatively reasonable among trenchless construction methods. For the application of this method, the acid sulfate soils have negative impacts on filling materials (one of the cement materials) injected into the tail-void which are over-cutting areas formed to reduce the friction between the pipes and the surrounding soils. In this study, the application of fly ash and slag is discussed to minimize the effect of sulfur acid to filling materials. As the results of the experiments, the addition of fly ash and slag can control the gelling time and prevent the reduction of uniaxial strength of filling materials under the acid sulfate soils. In addition, the filling materials added slag lowered frictional resistance compared to that of fly ash. Filling materials with the lower frictional resistance are preferred to apply for the smooth pipe jacking constructions. Therefore, filling materials added slag would show better performance than that of fly ash under the acid sulfate soils due to its lower frictional resistance.Metoda przeciskania rur jest zaliczana do metod budowy bezwykopowej. W przypadku zastosowania tej metody kwaśne gleby siarczanowe mają negatywny wpływ na materiały wypełniające (jeden z materiałów cementowych) wstrzykiwane w pustkę końcową, które są obszarami utworzonymi w celu zmniejszenia tarcia między rurami a otaczającymi glebami. W artykule omówiono zastosowanie popiołu lotnego i żużla w celu zminimalizowania wpływu kwasu siarkowego na materiały wypełniające. W wyniku eksperymentów stwierdzono, że dodanie popiołu lotnego i żużla pozwala na kontrolowanie czasu żelowania i zapobiega zmniejszeniu jednoosiowej wytrzymałości materiałów wypełniających. Ponadto dodany materiał wypełniający obniżył opór tarcia w porównaniu z popiołem lotnym. W przypadku gładkich konstrukcji rurowych zaleca się stosowanie materiałów wypełniających o niższym oporze tarcia. Dlatego dodany żużel z materiałów wypełniających wykazywałby lepszą wydajność niż popioły lotne ze względu na niższy opór tarcia

Stability Control of Retained Goaf-Side Gateroad under Different Roof Conditions in Deep Underground Y Type Longwall Mining

Stability of the retained goaf-side gateroad (RGSG) is influenced mainly by the movements of the roof strata near coal seam after coalface passes by. To make effective controlling technology for the stability of the RGSG, we analyze the roof structure over the RGSG to illustrate the mechanism causing the RGSG instability under different roof conditions. We then examine the dynamic evolution of the deformation and abutment stress in the rock surrounding the RGSG during coal seam mining, using the FLAC3D numerical software to reveal the instability characteristics of the RGSG under different roof conditions. Next, corresponding stability controlling technologies for the RGSGs are proposed and tested in three typical deep underground coalmines. Results show that: sink and rotation of the roof cantilever over the RGSG impose severer influence on the stability of the RGSG. The RGSG suffers disturbances three times during the coal-seam mining, and the deformation and abutment stress in the rock surrounding the RGSG increase significantly when the main roof becomes thicker and the immediate roof becomes thinner. Staged support technology involving grout cable bolts has better controlling results of the RGSG stability than that composed of conventional rock bolts, when the RGSG is beneath weak immediate roof with large thickness. Roof structure optimizing technology involving pre-split technology can improve the stability of the RGSG effectively when the RGSG is covered by hard main roof with large thickness directly