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Deep Ground and Energy: Carbon Sequestration and Coal Gasification

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Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on Environmental Geotechnics Volume 1 (ICEG 2018)

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Abstract

Deep coal reserves represent a valuable resource, both in terms of their potential for the sequestration of anthropogenic carbon dioxide and for energy extraction through underground coal gasification (UCG). This paper looks at the current field and research status of these technologies and, in line with on-going work at Cardiff University’s Geoenvironmental Research Centre (GRC), focuses special attention on the role of numerical modelling in advancing the research agenda. In response to poor carbon dioxide injectivity experienced in carbon sequestration trials and order-of-magnitude permeability losses caused by sorption induced coal swelling, the direction of work at the GRC is to improve the current understanding of the mechanical response of coal using a coupled thermal, hydraulic, chemical, mechanical modelling framework. Hence, the current focus of theoretical developments in this area are summarized. In relation to UCG, on-going developments to a comprehensive numerical model are discussed. The ultimate aim is to identify and quantify coupled mechanisms controlling syngas composition and production rate, heat and mass transport, geochemical reactions, geomechanical responses, and cavity growth to subsequently improve the state-of-the-art towards minimizing geoenvironmental risks.

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Acknowledgements

The financial support provided by the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO), through the FLEXIS project, is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geoenvironmental Research Centre, Cardiff School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    H. R. Thomas, L. J. Hosking, R. J. Sandford, R. Zagorščak, M. Chen & N. An

Authors
  1. H. R. Thomas
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  2. L. J. Hosking
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  3. R. J. Sandford
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  4. R. Zagorščak
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  5. M. Chen
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  6. N. An
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to H. R. Thomas .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. MOE Key Laboratory of Soft Soils and Geoenvironmental Engineering, College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Liangtong Zhan

  2. MOE Key Laboratory of Soft Soils and Geoenvironmental Engineering, College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Yunmin Chen

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Abdelmalek Bouazza

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Thomas, H.R., Hosking, L.J., Sandford, R.J., Zagorščak, R., Chen, M., An, N. (2019). Deep Ground and Energy: Carbon Sequestration and Coal Gasification. In: Zhan, L., Chen, Y., Bouazza, A. (eds) Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on Environmental Geotechnics Volume 1. ICEG 2018. Environmental Science and Engineering(). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2221-1_2

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