Advanced methane drainage strategy-technology employing underground directional drilling technology for major risk prevention and greenhouse gases emission mitigation
GRANT AGREEMENT NO. 847338 — DD-MET — RFCS-2018
Duration: July 2019 – December 2023
AIMS OF DD-MET PROJECT
The primary objective of the proposed project is to demonstrate application of long reach underground directional boreholes drilled above mined coal seams as a novel methane drainage technology in longwall mining of coal. The project aims at demonstration of alternative methane drainage technology (not used in Europe) which will contribute to increased mine safety and productivity, reduction of methane emissions and hazards mitigation costs.
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
The project is conducted in Poland. The implementation of the proposed technology is supported by research (laboratory experiments, numerical modeling, and extensive field testing) to assure adjustment to field conditions and technology optimization. The aim of performing two field pilots in different geological and mining conditions of the largest Polish hard coal basin provides the opportunity to compare the results of individual tasks and make this technology even more credible and universal. The project develops a cost-effective and environmentally friendly technology to perform methane drainage during coal seam exploitation using in-mine directional drilling, replacing very expensive methane drainage galleries developed above mining coal panels, as well as other auxiliary methane drainage methods. The project assumptions will be confirmed in the field, and, as a result, best practices will be derived, which will cover technical, technological, environmental, and economic aspects that should be considered in decision-making for the implementation of the proposed drainage technology.
WORK PACKAGES
The DD-MET project execution is scheduled over 54 months and includes six work packages plus the project coordination
The links between individual Work Packages
WP1 COORDINATION AND REPORTING
This is the work package in which all the coordination tasks of the DD-MET Pilot and Demonstration Project are included: overall technical coordination of the project, organisation and management of meetings, distribution of technical data and information among partners, preparation of minutes and integration of reports and administrative issues, including relations with EC. This work package also covers the design, implementation and maintenance of the project website.
WP2 CHARACTERISATION OF COAL SEAMS AND ROCKS - LABORATORY AND FIELD EXPERIMENTS
The general objective of this work package is to carry out a wide set of analyses allowing to characterize rocks from this region in terms of methane content, petrophysical and geomechanical parameters, stress distribution and assessment of initial conditions.
The project will be carried out in a new exploitation field in the "virgin" area of the Murcki-Staszic mine, for which, at the present stage of diagnosis, there is no appropriate data set characterizing coals and surrounding rocks. Geological, geomechanical and simulation (dynamic) models require an appropriate set of data necessary for their correct construction. For this purpose within this work package will be performed:
- field site characterisation,
- evaluation of the potential methane outburst hazards,
- coal and surrounding rocks sampling from gallery and vertical wells,
- petrophysical, mineralogical and geomechanical parameters,
- specialised petrophysics and field engineering analysis,
- measurement of current stresses.
WP3 NUMERICAL MODELLING AND SIMULATIONS OF METHANE DRAINAGE PROCESS
The general objective of this work package is to develop a sequence of 3D numerical models: geological, petrophysical, geomechanical, and fluid flow models describing a selected coal seam in Murcki-Staszic mine and its surrounding rocks together with a system of underground long-reach directional boreholes as a key element of the proposed methane drainage technology under the conditions of operating longwall.
The work conducted in this work package will be devoted:
- to develop geological models reproducing the distribution of coal and surrounding rocks’ geometry as well as petrophysical and geomechanical properties,
- to develop geomechanical models for the simulation of modified stress and strain distribution,
- to develop flow models for the simulation of reservoir fluid migration due to coal excavation process and induced methane drainage,
- to assess the drainage performance by the proposed technology in pre-mine and regular mining stages,
- to optimize the proposed technology with respect to its parameters,
- to support large-scale field implementation of the proposed technology in the selected coal seam.
WP4 FIELD SCALE DEMONSTRATION AND IMPLEMENTATION
The general objective of this work package is to conduct a demonstration field trial of methane drainage in the area of one of the planned longwalls in the Murcki-Staszic mine.
The aim will be achieved by the following actions:
- technology development, conceptual and technical design, drilling mud formula,
- drilling of the long directional boreholes,
- evaluation of geomechanical stability of the long boreholes during drilling and methane production while coal extraction by a longwall,
- long-term monitoring of methane production and assessment of degasification rate.
General scheme of the drainage boreholes location
The main goal of this Work Package of DD-MET project is to perform a system of so-called In-Mine Horizontal Boreholes using the directional drill-rig Atlas-Copco Diamec PHC 8 already owned by PGG.
WP5 RISK ASSESSMENT
The general objective this work package is to undergo a risk assessment for underground directional drilling technology in order to reduce the risk of incidents both during the drilling of boreholes and afterwards during methane drainage. The tasks conducted within this work psckage focus on the identification how to avoid technical failures during the process and evaluation how the methane drainage directional drilling technology affects the environment in order to mitigate these risks.
WP6 PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDY, LCA ANALYSIS AND ECO-EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS
The general objective of this work package is to develop the economic, environmental and eco-efficiency analyses of the advanced methane drainage strategy employing underground directional drilling technology.
Specific objectives are:
- to develop the pre-feasibility study of the methane drainage technology employing underground directional drilling.
- to evaluate the environmental aspects of methane drainage technology with the use of directional holes in its life cycle.
- to assess the eco-efficiency of the methane drainage technology with the use of directional holes in its life cycle.
WP7 CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATIONS AND DISSEMINATIONS
Finally this work package refers to the activities that will be undertaken to disseminate the results of the project to a wide audience within the European coal mining community
The main objective of this Work package is to compile the background state of the art knowledge in advanced methane drainage strategy employing underground directional drilling technology related research findings, fields practice and experience gained from the research outcomes.
As a second objective, and upon completion of all project tasks, a project “lessons learnt and recommendation document” will also be compiled and issued to assist industrial stakeholders and the scientific community towards achieving the general objectives of safe and efficient coal exploitation.
