KEY ADVANCES IN COALBED METHANE TECHNOLO

GY

 The tax incentives plays an important role pro

moting coalbed methane development in the
World, however, new technology was the prim
ary driver in making coalbed methane a comm
ercial success.
 Price incentives or tax incentives were availabl
e for coalbed methane production from 1978 t
hrough the early 1980s, yet, significant develo
pment did not begin until 1987 in USA.
 The coalbed methane research has prod
uced three key technological advances i
n reservoir engineering:

An Improved Understanding of the Fundament

als of Coalbed Methane Production

Advances in Measuring Reservoir Properties

Advances in Reservoir Simulation

Understanding the Fundamentals of Co
albed Methane Production

 Initially, research focused on understandi

ng the fundamental differences between
coalbed methane and conventional reser
voirs.
 The understanding of coalbed methane
has advanced so that reservoir engineer
s can evaluate new properties and mana
ge production from existing wells over th
e long term
To successfully produce coalbed methane
wells, it is essential to

 identify factors that control production in

coal reservoirs.
 understand the relationship between gas
content and sorption isotherm for specifi
c developments, and
 maintain low backpressure on wells to in
crease recovery. Each of these points is
discussed below.
Factors that Control Production in Coal
Reservoirs

 Production of gas is controlled by a three

step process i.e desorption of gas from t
he coal matrix, diffusion to the cleat syst
em, and flow through fractures
Relationship Between Gas Content and
Sorption Isotherm

 Another mechanism that controls production is

the relationship of gas content to sorption isoth
erm.

 The sorption isotherm defines the relationship

of pressure to the capacity of a given coal to h
old gas at a constant temperature. Gas conten
t is a measurement of the actual gas contained
in a given coal reservoir
 A coal reservoir is undersaturated if the a
ctual gas content is less than the isother
m value at reservoir temperature and pre
ssure.

 Accurate measurements of both gas con

tent and the isotherm are required to esti
mate the production profile of the well
Maintaining Low Backpressure on Wells

 Gas production will not initiate until reser

voir pressure falls below the point where
the gas content of the coal is in equilibriu
m with the isotherm
 If the gas content of the reservoir is belo
w the isotherm, then the reservoir will pr
oduce only water initially.

 Because of the relationship between gas

desorption and reservoir pressure, it is i
mportant to produce coalbed methane w
ells at the lowest practical pressure.
Advances in Measuring Reservoir Prope
rties.

 In 1982, few references were available o

n testing coalbed methane wells.

 Research on coalbed methane well testi

ng has produced several useful findings:
 Coal permeability is very sensitive to stre
ss conditions. When performing injection
/falloff tests on coal seams it is important
to inject at very low rates to avoid fracturi
ng the coal and to minimize stress effect
s.
 High skin factors often are encountered
when testing coal seams, especially whe
n testing a cemented and cased well.
 The high skin factor often can be elimina
ted by performing a breakdown treatmen
t or small stimulation before testing.
 Absolute permeability of coal natural frac
ture systems can be estimated from well
tests performed under multiphase flow c
onditions if accurate relative permeability
curves are available.
A wide variety of tests can be used to evalu
ate coalbed methane wells

 These include production or injection drill

stem tests, cased-hole production and inj
ection tests, slug tests, tank tests, and te
sts combined with production logging.
Advances in Reservoir Simulation.

 In 1980, GRI sponsored research to dev

elop a coalbed methane reservoir model
and define coalbed methane production
mechanisms.

 Today, more than fifty coalbed methane s

imulators have been described in literatu
re reviews.
Integrated GRI reservoir studies in the San J
uan Basin and Black Warrior Basin have pro
duced the following key results:
 The most important properties to measure are
coal thickness, cleat permeability, gas content,
and the sorption isotherm.

 Natural fracture (cleat) porosity in the San Jua

n basin is much lower than originally thought
(0.25 percent vs. 2.0-4.0 percent). Lower poro
sity implies lower water production and dispos
al costs.
 Permeability estimated from well tests ge
nerally correlates well with permeability p
redicted by simulators.

 Coal seam reservoir properties are heter

ogeneous and can vary widely from field
to field and in some cases from well to w
ell.
 Bottomhole pressure data and individual zone
production data can give increased confidence
when history matching single well and field cas
es.
 Relative permeability curves generated from th
e history match process tend to be steeper tha
n core derived curves. Though core derived pe
rmeability curves can be used as a starting poi
nt, curves generated through history matching
may provide a truer representation of the reser
voir.
METHANE EMISSIONS IN MINING

 Natural ventilation (cracks in coal layers

and adjoining rocks)
 Coal mine emissions
 Underground mines
 Surface coal mining
 Coal enrichment, transportation and usa
ge
Methane recovery from coal seams provide
s a number of benefits.

 frequent accidents

 can be recovered and sold

 reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

 substitute for fuel.

 Methane emissions from coal mines can
be reduced by recovering and using met
hane from underground mines and by ox
idating of methane from ventilation air.
 methane recovered from underground mi
nes may be sold to natural gas compani
es, used to generate electricity, used on-
site as fuel for drying coal,.
 The oxidization of coal mine ventilation a
ir produces heat that can be used directl
y on-site or to produce electricity.

 The oxidization technology has been suc

cessfully demonstrated in Great Britain.
 Carbon dioxide emissions per unit of ele
ctricity generated are typically in the orde
r of:
Brown Coal: 1,180 tonnes per GWh
Black coal: 25 tonnes per GWh
Coalbed methane: 600 tonnes per GWh
USES OF COAL BED METHANE

 Mine boilers – switching from coal to ga

s:
 Motor fuel
 Cleaning of recovered substances and m
ethane supply to natural gas pipelines
 Electricity generation (diesel generators,
gas turbines, internal-combustion engine
s)
 Supporting mine operations
 Sales to the power grid
 Technological raw materials (metallurgy,
fertilizers, methanol)
 Community needs (heat and electricity) o
f adjacent territories
INDIAN SCENARIO
 Essar initiated the first CBM project in India.

 Targeting the deep coals of Cambay Basin of

Gujarat, Essar started the project at Mehsana.

 Essar is today indigenously producing methan

e form one of the three wells drilled
 India's Directorate General of Hydrocarb
on (DGH) has identified nine blocks in fo
ur states - Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya
Pradesh and West Bengal for exploration
and production of CBM that will be offere
d for bidding.
 Fields No. of Blocks
 1. Raniganj (3)
 2. Jharia (2)
 3. E. Bokaro & W. Bokaro (2)
 4. Satpura (1)
 5. Singrauli -
 6. Sohagpur (2)
 7. Talcher
 8.Chanda-Wardha
 9.Godavari Valley
 10.Tertiary Coal fields of NE
 11.Gujarat (Sub-Surface Coal)
 12.Neyveli Lignite
 13.J & K Coal Fields
 14.Palana-Rajasthan
 Accordingly, a Coal Bed Methane (CBM) Explo
itation Project has been formulated by the DG
H with the help of the Ministry of Petroleum an
d Natural Gas.
 The project involves four phases :
Phase 1 : Exploration
Phase 2 : Pilot Assessment and Market
Confirmation
Phase 3 : Development
Phase 4 : Production
 In the immediate context only Phase 1 is
being considered and, to start with, the s
hallow depth coalbeds of the Lower Gon
dwanas of the eastern and central parts
of Peninsular India will be on offer.
 The areal extent of these beds is of the o
rder of 11000 sq. kms, made up of :

 2800 sq. kms in the Raniganj, Jharia, Ea

st Bokaro and West Bokaro coal fields in
the Damodar Valley belt; and,
 8200 sq. kms in the Sohagpur and Satpu
tra coal fields of Central India.