WATER PRODUCTION AND

DISPOSAL IN CBM WELL

Dr. Keka Ojha

Department of Petroleum Engineering
Indian School of Mines
Dhanbad
India
 INTRODUCTION
Water production and disposal is a big issue in CBM industry and
it affects greatly the economics and feasibility of CBM
projects.
 The issues to be resolved in water management are:
 Quantity of water to be produced
 Flow rates
 Chemical content
 Disposal means
 Monitoring &
 Environmental regulation
Water Production
 How water is associate in CBM

Water associated with a CBM project involves three forms:

I. Adherent moisture/bulk moisture:
 free water content in the cleat system having a normal vapor
pressure.
 Production of the adherent water from a well begin at a rate of
1500 BWPD from saturated cleats and decline thereafter to a
value as low as 10 BWPD
II. Inherent moisture:
 water in the micropore system that decreases the adsorptive
capacity of the coal for methane.
 Inherent moisture is inconsequential in water disposal problems
III. Chemical bound water:
 chemically bound water may have been incorporated in the
molecular structure of coals at the start of peatification
 WATER PRODUCTION RATES FROM
WELLS
Initial water production rates:
 water production rates depends on:
I. coals permeability,
II. interference with other wells or mines, and/ or link to an aquifer or
meteoric water.
III. Past mining in the area, even through presently inactive, may have
depleted water in the seams.
 Wells in the periphery of the pattern may produce more water
compared to those in the interior.
 If a well is updip of other wells, it may produce less water
compared to the others.
 CHEMICAL CONTENT
pH acidic to alkaline
Anions Bicarbonate (76-12000 mg/L), Chloride (19-15000 mg/L), Fluoride
(ND-20), Sulfate (ND-650)
Metals Ba, Cd, Ca, Fe, Li, Mg, Mn, K, Si, Na, Strontium, Zn

BOD Biochemical oxygen demand (dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic organisms

in a body of water to break down organic material present in a water sample).
The term also refers to a chemical procedure for determining this amount. This
is not a precise quantitative test, although it is widely used as an indication of
the organic quality of water. The BOD value is most commonly expressed in
milligrams of oxygen consumed per litre of sample during 5 days of incubation
at 20 °C and is often used as a robust surrogate of the degree of
organic pollution of water.
H/C It is widely used to indicate organic quantity of water.
Cl- It was found that below 593mg/L Cl- content of a stream, plant and fish
are unaffected. Greater concentration of CL- is an indicator of
stationary water i.e. low permeability or discontinuity in stream
HCO3- Is indicative of a good permeability of water.
 ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS
Toxicity Limitations of Coalbed Water:
 Coalbed waters are regulated to specify the following chemical contents
and conditions:
 Dissolved oxygen (DO).
 Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).
 Iron.
 Manganese.
 Total dissolved solids (TDS).
Important characteristics of O2 in CBM water:
Oxygen in water from coalseam 0.0
Oxygen required in discharged waters ≥5 mg/L
Oxygen for ferrous ion oxidation 1 mg/L O2 per 7 mg/L Fe2+
Oxygen for manganous ion oxidation 1 mg/L O2 per 3 mg/L Mn2+
Per 1.0 lb of BOD 1.2 lb O2
7.6 to 11.3 mg/L O2 dissolves in H2O 1.2 lb O2
 Water Quality of CBM Water
Horseshoe Canyon
Water Powder River Basin, Piceance Basin, San Juan Basin Black Warrior Basin,
Formation (Alberta,
Chemistry WY CO CO, NM, AZ, UT AL
Canada)

Max min max Min Max Min Max min max min
(mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L)

Na 861.0 112.0 800.0 110.00 2673. 1976. 5939. 3674. 3100. 570.0
Ca 128.00 2.70 69.00 5.90 1839.00 13.20 118.70 6.50 100.00 2.50
Mg 23.50 0.20 46.00 1.60 7.77 0.00 39.00 2.88 34.00 1.10

As 0.0022 <0.0002 0.0026 <0.0002 0.11 0.00

Fe 0.16 <0.01 4.90 0.20 1.50 0.05
K 8.90 2.00 18.00 3.80 6.00 2.00
HCO3- 1720.00 384.00 6612.00 5250.00 14701.00 6083.00 1120.00 670.00
Cl- 229.00 0.50 64.00 5.20 600.00 4.00 2499.00 668.00 4200.00 450.00
SO42- 1320.00 1.00 17.00 0.01 135.50 8.32 166.80 0.00

Meq Na 37.45 4.87 34.80 4.78 116.27 85.95 258.34 159.82 134.85 24.79
Meq Ca 6.39 0.13 3.44 0.29 91.77 0.66 5.92 0.32 4.99 0.12
Meq Mg 1.93 0.02 3.79 0.13 0.64 0.00 3.21 0.24 2.80 0.09

SAR 18.36 17.72 18.30 10.37 17.11 149.77 120.90 301.66 68.33 75.57
 TREATMENT OF PRODUCED WATER
 The first treatment must be to provide oxygen to the waters
collected in the ponds using one of three methods:
I. Spraying. The surface area of the water is increased to absorb
oxygen from the air.
II. Agitating mechanically.
III. Pumping air beneath the water surface.
 primary objective of produced of treatment water:
I. transfer oxygen to the water for feeding the growth of
microorganisms that degrade organic matter in the water.
II. The above three methods increase surface areas of water exposed
to air to enhance absorption of oxygen.
III. agitation is supplied to bring bacteria, oxygen, and organic matter
into contact.
 Bates, et al. gives the rate of oxygen transfer across the gas and
liquid films of the liquid/air interface
dC/dt = kLa(Cs − C)
 WATER DISPOSAL TECHNIQUES
 Water disposal techniques are:
I. Well injection if zone with sufficient permeability is available.
II. Discharge into surface stream
III. Land application
IV. Membrane separation
SCALING:
Causes of scaling:
1. Mingling of incompatible water
2. Contact time
3. Temperature change
4. Pressure drop
5. Evaporation
6. pH
7. TDS may cause scale deposition in the formation matrix, fractures,
perforating, well bore, downhole pumps, tubing, casing, flowlines and
water disposal systems.