COAL BED METHANE (CBM)

CBM is a natural gas containing virtually 100% methane (CH4) produced from coal seam reservoirs. Form of natural gas extracted from coal beds Gas is held on coal matrix by sorption

Why is CBM? Provide a clean-burning fuel. Increase substantially the natural gas reserve base. Improve safety of coal mining. Decrease methane vented to the atmosphere from coal mines that might affect global warming. Provide a means to use an abundant coal resource that is often too deep to mine. Characteristics of Coal Suitable for CBM Production 1. High gas content: 15m3 - 30m3 per tonne is typical. 2. Good permeability: 30mD - 50mD is typical. 3. Shallow: Coal seams < 1,000m in depth. The pressure at greater depths is often too high to allow gas flow even when the seam has been completely dewatered. This is because the high pressure causes the cleat structure to close, reducing permeability. 4. Coal rank: Most CBM projects produce gas from Bituminous coals, but it can be possible to access gas in Anthracite. Depositional System: Narrow range sedimentary environment Buried quickly, high water table & isolated for oxidation process Lingkungan pembentuk batubara : Mires o o Marine Connected, termed paralic : lagoon Fresh water connected, termed limnic : lakes/abundant river channel

Ocean
Tid al I nl

et

Offshore Shale

Barrier Sandstone

Lagoonal Shale

Coalification -> Coal Rank 2 Stages: Biochemical: micro-organisms initiate & aid the chemical decomposition of vegetation into peat and brown coal Physicochemical: initiated & maintained by post-depositional subsidence & effects of rising temperature & pressure

Coal Maturation=Coal Rank Gradual Process characterized by stage A measure of thermal maturity 6 ranks commonly recognized Peat Lignite Sub-bituminous

Bituminous Semi-anthracite Anthracite

Coal Type is the unique composition of a coal the proportion of different organic macerals & inorganic minerals

Humic Coal the most abundant type rooted vegetation deposited in-situ in mires & accumulated as peat finely bedded at macroscopic scale

Sapropelic Coal uncommon sub aquatic deposition floating vegetation (incl. algae) & re-deposited organic matter not formed in-situ massive, black/brown, non-bedded (at macroscopic scale) Coal Type Analysis Lithotype Description macroscopic description of seam profile profile reflects depositional history aids correlation

lithotypes reflect micro-composition Maceral Analysis determine proportions of macerals (cf minerals) reflected-light microscopy implications for depositional environment implications for utilisation can be distinctive for seams Coal type Humic coal Lithotype Vitrain Clarain (Duroclarain) Macroscopic characteristics Bright, black, usually brittle, frequently with cleats Semi-bright, black, finely stratified

(Clarodurain) Durain Fusain Sapropelic coal Cannel coal

Dull, black or grey-black, hard, rough surface Silky lustre, black fibrous, soft friable (charcoal) Dull or slightly greasy lustre, black homogenous, unstratified, hard, conchoidal fracture, black streak Like cannel coal but brownish colour and brown streak

Boghead coal

Coal Lithotype (Australian System)

Bright Coal: 80-100% bright laminae

Banded Bright Coal: 60-80% bright laminae

Banded Coal: 4060% bright laminae

Banded Dull Coal: 20-40% bright laminae

Dull Coal: 0-20% bright laminae Fibrous Coal: very dull, earthy, very friable

Pengaruh dari tipe dan rank batubara untuk CBM: volume gas yang dihasilkan kapasitas batubara untuk mempertahankan gas pembentukan cleat yang merupakan permeability pathways physical properties dan response untuk prosedur rangsangan

Methane in Coal Coal is a sedimentary rock that had its origin as an accumulation of inorganic and organic debris. A readily combustible rock containing more than 50% by weight and more than 70% by volume of carbonaceous material formed from compaction and induration of variously altered plant remains similar to those in peaty deposits Schopf, 1956 A black rock that burns! Coal acts as both source rock and reservoir rock for methane Methane is generated by microbial (biogenic) or thermal (thermogenic) processes Shortly after burial and throughout the diagenetic cycle (resulting from further burial) gas is generated and is physically sorbed on coal surfaces in areas with coal micro porosity

Coal as source rock Biogenic can form early or late early at the beginning of coalification late by bacterial action in the reservoir

Dominant gas generally Thermogenic volume of gas increases with coalification (coal maturity) very large volumes of gas generated during coalification

 BIOGENIC (EARLY) Insitu (swamp gas) BIOGENIC (MATURE OR SECOND STAGE) Maceral & hydrocarbon (kerogen) types Thermal maturity/burial Hydrologic drive (cleat/fracture system) THERMOGENIC (CATAGENIC) Thermal maturity/burial history MIGRATED THERMOGENIC Thermal maturity/burial history Hydrology MIXED THERMOGENIC AND BIOGENIC Thermal maturity/burial history Hydrology

Hunt, 1979 Gas Storage Gas is retained in the coal due to hydrostatic and lithostatic pressure Gas in coal seams is stored in three basic ways: Chemical adsorbed to coal particles (macerals) and held by molecular attraction Within pore spaces, cleats and fractures of the coal

Dissolved in water contained within the coal

Storage capacity The amount of adsorbed gas depends on Ash content Rank of coal Burial history Chemical make up of the coal Temperature And gas lost over geologic time

Gas Saturation Determined by laboratory adsorption test Saturation is ratio of desorbed to adsorbed gas content

Gas Composition Controls on coalbed gas compositon Maceral content (kerogens) Coal rank Reservoir dynamics Migrated gas Biogenic gas

Hydrocarbon Methane Ethane Propane Butanes Pentanes Hexanes Heptanes Non Hydrocarbon Nitrogen Carbon Dioxide Hydrogen Sulfide Helium

70-98% 1-10% trace-5% trace-2% trace-1% trace-1/2% trace-1/2%

trace-15% trace-5% trace-3% up to 5%, usually trace or none

Controls on gas accumulation and distribution: Structure Coal seam thickness and continuity Igneous intrusions Burial history and reservoir (P & T) Coal composition and rank Hydrogeology and biogenic gas

Effect of Igneous Intrusion High gas contents in coal around sills Little effect on gas quality Still 95% CH4 Enhanced permeability & desorption Characteristic micropores & slits

Sills may act as seals Gas contents higher below sills

Sills important on regional scale for heat flow

Hydrogeology Impact:

Unsually high gas content

Unsually low gas content

COALBED METHANE PRODUCIBILITY (From Scott, 1993)

Coal Permeability Coal itself is a low permeability reservoir Almost all the permeability of a coal bed is usually considered to be due to fractures, which in coal are in the form of cleats The face cleats are continuous and provide paths of higher permeability, while butt cleats are non-continuous and end at face cleats. Cleat develops in a coal from: Dehydration during coalification Devolatilization during coalification Tectonic force Compaction

Why is cleat important? matrix of coal very porous but very low permeability gas desorbs slowly from matrix but rapidly through cleat network, i.e coal is essentially a fractured reservoir all permeability derives from the cleat network permeability the most common limiting factor to economic CBM production cleat development influenced by both coal rank & type

Influences on Permeability: all Perm derives from fracture system (cleat) cleat system influenced by: rank (+) ash (-) vitrinite content (brightness) (+) mineralisation on cleat surface (-)

reservoir influence on perm depth (-) in-situ stress (-)

Cleat

Cleat spacing: Cleat spacing varies with rank cleat density highest in med vol. Bituminous to semi-anthracite

Cleat spacing varies with coal type cleat density highest in brighter lithotypes at low rank, dull and banded dull coals might not be cleated cleat often terminates at lithotype boundaries generally, very low ash coal zones will be bright, with good cleat. rarely, very low ash zones will be dry dull coals with poor/no cleat

Cleat spacing

Maceral: Coals are composed of macerals (microscopic organic particles in the coal)

CBM vs Conventional Gas Reservoir Characteristics

Characteristic Gas generation Structure Gas storage Mechanism Transport Mechanism Permeability Origin Production Performance Gas content prediction Mechanical Properties CBM Gas is generated and trapped within the coal Uniformly-spaced cleats Adsorption Concentration gradient (Ficks Law) and Pressure Gradient (Darcys law) Butt cleat, face cleat, fractures Gas rate increases with time then declines. Initially the production is mainly water. GWR increases with time Cores Young modules ~105 Pore compressibility ~ 10-4 Conventional Gas is generated in the source rock and then migrates into the reservoir Randomly-spaced fractures Compression Pressure Gradient (Darcys law)

Fractures, connectedness Gas rate starts high then decline. Little or no water initially. GWR decrease with time Wire-line logs Young modules ~106 Pore compressibility ~ 10-6

Advantages of CBM vs Conventional

Disadvantages of CBM vs Conventional

Often located in major markets Increasing production initially Long life Onshore shallow w ells Potential for carbon sequestration

Potentially large footprint Dew atering during gas production Low pressure requires many w ells Higher w ell completion costs

Thickness (h) Coal shallower than 150m and deeper than 1200m is usually excluded from volumetric calculations Too low gas content at shallow depths and occluded permeability at deeper depths SPEE/COGEH uses rules of thumb on requirements for clustering seams for development of: > 0.3m in thickness < 30.0 m vertical separation Another major consideration is the maximum completed interval thickness

Ash and Moisture (%) Essentially these are the equivalents to the net-to-gross ratio of the individual coal bed Coal formed of non-net ash yield (other lithologies) and moisture content Analysis is performed in the laboratory and should have a relatively low range of measured uncertainty. However, Coals can vary significantly in ash yield vertically between seams Relates to the grade and depositional environment of the coal Moisture (irreducible water) contents are usually low(< 3-5 %) SPEE/COGEH suggest a cut-off of 50% for ash yield to qualify the bed as a suitably useable coal

Gas Content Errors arise when estimating the gas content of the coal during sampling, relating to: Q1- lost gas (lost during the retrieval) Q2- recovered gas (contained during the sampling) Q3- residual gas (released by crushing the coal) Large uncertainties can exist on estimation of Q1 Majority of uncertainty relates to: Spatial distribution of the gas content Can vary considerably both laterally and vertically Requires detailed mapping and high density sampling Units- either As-received or Dry Ash Free (daf) Traditionally gas-content values are obtained by desorbing core samples in the laboratory and then correcting these values for lost and residual gas.

Coal Density Coal has a density ranging between approximately 1.1 - 2.5 g/cm3 Density used to convert gas content (scf/ton) to volume (scf/ft3) Dependent on ash/moisture content and rank of coal Rank is the degree of metamorphism of the coal

Highest Gas Contents found in Sub-Bituminous to Bituminous coals Errors often occur relating to the density value not being used on the same basis as the gas content value i.e. both must be As-received or daf Often a conservative density limit of 1.75 g/cm3 is applied The average insitu coal density can be estimated from from a density log or from core measurements

Parameter Kualitas Batubara Total Moisture Proximate Total Sulfur Calorific Value HGI Ultimate Analysis Ash Fusion Temperature Ash Analysis

Total Moisture Moisture dalam batubara : Inherent moisture -> EQM ; MHC Extraneous moisture -> surface moisture TM = EQM + SM Tinggi Rendahnya Total Moisture akan tergantung pada : Peringkat Batubara Size Distribusi Kondisi Pada saat Sampling Semakin tinggi peringkat suatu batubara -> semakin kecil porositas batubara tersebut atau semakin padat batubara tersebut.-> Dengan demikian akan semakin kecil juga moisture yang dapat diserap atau ditampung dalam pori batubara tersebut. Hal ini menyebabkan semakin kecil kandungan moisturenya khususnya inherent moisturenya. Semakin kecil ukuran partikel batubara -> semakin besar luas permukaanya. Hal ini menyebabkan akan semakin tinggi surface moisturenya. Pada nilai inherentmoisture tetap, maka TM-nya akan naik yang dikarenakan naiknya surface moisture. Total Moisture dapat dipengaruhi oleh kondisi pada saat batubara tersebut di Sampling. Yang termasuk dalam kondisi sampling adalah : Kondisi batubara pada saat disampling Size distribusi sample batubara yang diambil terlalu besar atau terlalu kecil. Cuaca pada saat pengambilan sample

 Penentuan Total Moisture: Penentuan Total Moisture biasanya dibagai menjadi dua tahap penentuan yaitu : Penentuan Free Moistrue atau air dry loss Penentuan Residual moisture TM = FM + RM(1-FM/100)

TM = ADL + RM (1-ADL/100)

Air Dried Moisture Adalah moisture yang terkandung dalam batubara setelah batubara tersebut dikering udarakan Moisture In the analysis samples

Inherent Moisture Sifat-sifatnya: Besar kecilnya nilai ADM dipengaruhi oleh peringkat batubara. Semakin tinggi peringkat batubara, semakin rendah kandungan ADM nya. Nilainya tergantung pada humuditas dan temperature ruangan dimana moisture tersebut dianalisa. Nilainya tergantung juga pada preparasi sample sebelum ADM dianalisa (Standar preparasi)

Ash Content Batubara sebenarnya tidak mengandung abu, melainkan mengandung mineral matter. Namun sebagian mineral matter dianalisa dan dinyatakan sebagai kadar Abu atau Ash Content. Mineral Matter atau ash dalam batubara terdiri dari inherent dan extarneous. Inherent Ash ada dalam batubara sejak pada masa pembentukan batubara dan keberadaan dalam batubara terikat secara kimia dalam struktur molekul batubara Sedangkan Extraneous Ash, berasal dari dilusi atau sumber abu lainnya yang berasal dari luar batubara. Sifatnya; Kadar abu dalam batubara tergantung pada banyaknya dan jenis mineral matter yang dikandung oleh batubara baik yang berasal dari inherent atau dari extraneous. Kadar abu relatif lebih stabil pada batubara yang sama. Oleh karena itu Ash sering dijadikan parameter penentu dalam beberpa kalibrasi alat preparasi maupun alat sampling. Semakin tinggi kadar abu pada jenis batubara yang sama, semakin rendah nilai kalorinya. Kadar abu juga sering mempengaruhi nilai HGI batubara. Kegunaan: Kadar abu didalam penambangan batubara dapat dijadikan penentu apakah penambangan tersebut bersih atau tidak, yaitu dengan membandingkan kadar abu dari data geology atau planning, dengan kadar abu dari batubara produksi. Kadar abu dalam komersial sering dijadikan sebagai garansi spesifikasi atau bahkan sebagai rejection limit.

Volatile Matter Volatile matter/ zat terbang, adalah bagian organik batubara yang menguap ketika dipanaskan pada temperature tertentu. Volatile matter biasanya berasal dari gugus hidrokarbon dengan rantai alifatik atau rantai lurus. Yang mudah putus dengan pemanasan tanpa udara menjadi hidrokarbon yang lebih sederhana seperti methana atau ethane. Sifat: Kadar Volatile Matter dalam batubara ditentukan oleh peringkat batubara. Semakin tinggi peringkat suatu batubara akan semakin rendah kadar volatile matternya. Volatile matter memiliki korelasi dengan vitrinite reflectance, semakin rendah volatile matter, semakin tinggi vitrinite reflectancenya Kegunaan: Volatile Matter digunakan sebagai parameter penentu dalam penentuan peringkat batubara. Volatile matter dalam batubara dapat dijadikan sebagai indikasi reaktifitas batubara pada saat dibakar. Semakin tinggi peringkat suatu batubara akan semakin rendah kadar volatile matternya.

Sulfur Organic sulfur, sulfat sulfur, pyritic sulfur Sifat: Kandungan sulfur dalam batubara sangat bervariasi dan pada umumnya bersifat heterogen sekalipun dalam satu seam batubara yang sama. Baik heterogen secara vertikal maupun secara lateral. Namun demikian ditemukan juga beberapa seam yang sama memiliki kandungan sulfur yang relatif homogen. Kegunaan: Sulfur dalam batubara thermal maupun metalurgi tidak diinginkan, karena Sulfur dapat mempengaruhi sifat-sifat pembakaran yang dapat menyebabkan slagging maupun mempengaruhi kualitas product dari besi baja. Selain itu dapat berpengaruh terhadap lingkungan karena emisi sulfur dapat menyebabkan hujan asam. Oleh karena itu dalam komersial, Sulfur dijadikan batasan garansi kualitas, bahkan dijadikan sebagai rejection limit. Namun demikian dalam beberapa utilisasi batubara, Sulfur tidak menyebabkan masalah bahkan sulfur membantu performance dari utilisasi tersebut. Utilisasi tersebut misalnya pada proses pengolahan Nikel seperti di PT. INCO. Dan juga pada proses Coal Liquefaction (Pencairan Batubara).

Calorific Value Specific Energy Higher heating Value Adalah nilai energi yang dapat dihasilkan dari pembakaran batubara. Nilai kalori batubara dapat dinyatakan dalam satuan: MJ/Kg , Kcal/kg, BTU/lb Nilai kalori tersebut dapat dinyatakan dalam Gross dan Net. Nilai Kalori dapat dinyatakan dalam satuan yang berbeda : Calorific Value (CV)(kcal/kg) Specific Energy (SE) .(Mj/kg)

 Sifat:

Higher Heating Value (HHV) = Gross CV Lower Heating Value (LHV)= Net CV British Thermal Unit = Btu/lb

Nilai Kalori batubara bergantung pada peringkat batubara. Semakin tinggi peringkat batubara, semakin tinggi nilai kalorinya. Pada batubara yang sama Nilai kalori dapat dipengaruhi oleh moisture dan juga Abu. Semakin tinggi moisture atau abu, semakin kecil nilai kalorinya.

CBM Potential in Indonesia:

CBM exploration strategy 1. Initial basin assesment Initial Geology and Geophysical study and data analysis 2. Basin wide eksploration Drilling of core and stratigraphic wells CSG data analysis and technical evaluation 3. Appraisal wells pilot test program Gas water flow testing Completion tests Commerciality analysis

Good CBM Prospect (not definite) Parameter : Seam thickness : Best coal seam >8m thickness Depth : coal seam between 300 1200m in depth Seam Properties Rank (mostly bituminous but possible also sub bituminous) Composition (preferably high in vitrinite content because generally generate good cleat ) Ash content (low ash-high carbon content) Permeability (best 20mD-50mD, but >3mD can be economic with right stimulation and completion strategies) High gas content : 10m3-25m3 /tone (sometimes low gas content in thick and high permeability coal seams could be a good prospect as well) Structural trapping Access to market

CBM Technology: Drilling

Hydraulic Fracturing Hydraulic fracturing (more commonly known as fracing) is the technique used to increase the surface area of the coal. The fluid systems and additives used in conventional wells are generally not suitable for CBM wells. This is because coal seam reservoirs have unique properties and therefore specially developed materials need to be used.

Well Completion