Geochemical study of coals from Sohagpur Coalfield, India, and its implication to CBM potential

ABSTRACT

Coal is a primary and conventional energy source, but it also adversely impacts the environment. To mitigate the adverse effects of fossil fuels, the world is compelled to switch to more environmentally friendly resources like shale gas and coal bed methane (CBM). In India, coal has been mined and utilized for more than a century, but now it is high time to use the coal resource more cleanly. In this regard, CBM can be a good alternative. It is essential to mark out the coal seams which pose a high CBM generation potential. The study aims to determine the relationship between methane content and adsorbed gas content with coal characteristics and its depth of occurrence. In the present study, an investigation was carried out on the coal samples from the Sohagpur coalfield to detect the relation mentioned above. Vitrinite reflectance was calculated, which ranges from 0.85% to 1.08%. Adsorbed gas content and methane content were calculated using proximate analysis results and the coal seam depth. The study revealed that these coals are High Volatile Bituminous in rank. Also, Methane content increases with vitrinite reflectance and fixed carbon. As the depth increases, the value of gas content also increases.

KEYWORDS:

• Sohagpur coalfield
• CBM
• gas content
• Vitrinite Reflectance (R_o)
• geochemical study

Acknowledgments

The authors duly acknowledge the Director, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology, Jais, for providing necessary facilities and South Eastern Coalfield Limited (SECL) for providing coal samples for research purposes. KK and MKS also acknowledge RGIPT for providing financial assistantship for research work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.