Coal Technology and Fugitive Emissions Management
Program Overview
The major impediment to capturing fugitive emissions from coal mining is the high cost of drilling holes to release gases trapped in coal seams. Key activities will develop drilling technologies, appropriate geophysical tools and an understanding of pressurisation to stabilise holes in soft coal. The output will be a coiled-tube, low cost underground drilling system. It will be developed in conjunction with an existing drill manufacturer.
Fugitive gas (mostly methane) emissions from coal mines accounted for about 48% of mining (metaliferous and coal) industry CO2-e emissions in 2006. The major impediment to capturing fugitive emissions is the high cost of drilling to drain gases trapped in coal seams. This program will develop a novel drilling method for draining gases by adapting coiled-tube drilling technology, widely used in the US oil and gas industry. This technology will significantly enhance drilling performance and safety, reduce drilling costs and provide the ability to drill and drain gases from soft, unstable coals. It will also allow continuous, real-time geophysical mapping of the seam, providing a 3-D image of the seam in advance of mining. Such geophysical information is not gathered routinely today because the use of discrete drill rods makes it extremely difficult to transmit information from the drill head to the hole collar.
Program Leader
Professor Paul Lever
p.lever@crcmining.com.au