AU2010268745A1 - A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit - Google Patents

A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit Download PDF

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Publication number
AU2010268745A1
AU2010268745A1 AU2010268745A AU2010268745A AU2010268745A1 AU 2010268745 A1 AU2010268745 A1 AU 2010268745A1 AU 2010268745 A AU2010268745 A AU 2010268745A AU 2010268745 A AU2010268745 A AU 2010268745A AU 2010268745 A1 AU2010268745 A1 AU 2010268745A1
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Australia
Prior art keywords
coal
methane
deposit
extracting
seam
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Abandoned
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AU2010268745A
Inventor
Scott Thomson
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METHANE TECHNOLOGIES Pty Ltd
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Methane Tech Pty Ltd
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Priority claimed from AU2009903082A external-priority patent/AU2009903082A0/en
Application filed by Methane Tech Pty Ltd filed Critical Methane Tech Pty Ltd
Priority to AU2010268745A priority Critical patent/AU2010268745A1/en
Publication of AU2010268745A1 publication Critical patent/AU2010268745A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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    • EFIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21BEARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B43/00Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells
    • E21B43/30Specific pattern of wells, e.g. optimising the spacing of wells
    • E21B43/305Specific pattern of wells, e.g. optimising the spacing of wells comprising at least one inclined or horizontal well
    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C09DYES; PAINTS; POLISHES; NATURAL RESINS; ADHESIVES; COMPOSITIONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; APPLICATIONS OF MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • C09KMATERIALS FOR MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE
    • C09K8/00Compositions for drilling of boreholes or wells; Compositions for treating boreholes or wells, e.g. for completion or for remedial operations
    • C09K8/58Compositions for enhanced recovery methods for obtaining hydrocarbons, i.e. for improving the mobility of the oil, e.g. displacing fluids
    • C09K8/582Compositions for enhanced recovery methods for obtaining hydrocarbons, i.e. for improving the mobility of the oil, e.g. displacing fluids characterised by the use of bacteria
    • EFIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21BEARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B43/00Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells
    • E21B43/006Production of coal-bed methane

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Geology (AREA)
  • General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
  • Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
  • Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Preparation Of Compounds By Using Micro-Organisms (AREA)
  • Solid Fuels And Fuel-Associated Substances (AREA)

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to a method of extracting methane from a coal deposit involving the following steps: 1. Drilling generally vertically into a coal bed methane (CBM) deposit (10) to form a vertical well (12); 2. Drilling directionally off the vertical well (12) into a coal seam (14) to form two (2) in-seam bore holes (16) and (18) respectively; 3. Depositing pre-treatment materials, nutrients and possibly microbial matter (depicted by the arrow (20)) into one of the bore holes (16) via the vertical well (12); 4. Extracting biogenically enhanced methane (depicted by the arrow (22)) from the coal deposit (10) via the other bore hole (18) and the vertical well (12).

Description

WO 2011/000022 PCT/AU2010/000310 1 A METHOD OF EXTRACTING METHANE FROM A COAL DEPOSIT FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates broadly to a method of extracting methane from a coal 5 deposit. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION The use of directional drilling for coal seam gas production is reasonably well established. Most of this work has been conducted in the relatively high rank black coals of Australian Permian basins. This technique has not been applied to lower rank coals such as ignites. 10 Bio enhancement of coal seams is in its infancy but some trial work has taken place in the Powder River Basin in the USA, and the process is known to occur in geological time, namely over many thousands of years. Bio enhancement - the production of methane through the action of methanogens and nutrients introduced by groundwater - is common in Australian and international coal seams. Some of the major successful coal seam gas 15 plays have been predicated on at least some bio enhancement of coal. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of extracting methane from a coal deposit, said method comprising the steps of: drilling substantially vertically into a coal deposit to form one or more 20 vertical wells; drilling directionally off said one or more vertical wells into one or more coal seams of said deposit to form one or more in-seam boreholes; depositing of microbial matter into at least one of the in-seam boreholes via at least one of the vertical wells thereby enhancing methane production; 25 extracting biogenically enhanced methane from the coal deposit, said extraction being via said one or more of the vertical wells. According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of extracting methane from a coal deposit, said method comprising the steps of: drilling substantially vertically into a coal deposit to form one or more 30 vertical wells; drilling directionally off said one or more vertical wells into one or more coal seams of said deposit to form one or more in-seam boreholes; WO 2011/000022 PCT/AU2010/000310 2 depositing of nutrients into at least one of the in-seam boreholes via at least one of the vertical wells thereby enhancing methane production; extracting biogenically enhanced methane from the coal deposit, said extraction being via said one or more of the vertical wells. 5 According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of extracting methane from a coal deposit, said method comprising the steps of: drilling substantially vertically into a coal deposit to form one or more vertical wells; drilling directionally off said one or more vertical wells into one or more coal 10 seams of said deposit to form one or more in-seam boreholes; depositing of pre-treatment materials into at least one of the in-seam boreholes via at least one of the vertical wells thereby enhancing methane production; extracting biogenically enhanced methane from the coal deposit, said 15 extraction being via said one or more of the vertical wells. Preferably the method comprises sequential steps of depositing the pre-treatment materials and the nutrients into the in-seam boreholes. More preferably the method also comprises the step of depositing the microbial matter following the sequential deposition of the pre-treatment materials and the nutrients. 20 Preferably the method also comprises the step of promoting the passage of the pre treatment materials, nutrients or microbial matter across the coal seam between a pair of adjacent in-seam boreholes. More preferably this step of promoting the passage of this injected material is effected by reducing the pressure in one of the pair of said in-seam boreholes. 25 Preferably the steps of drilling vertically and drilling directionally are performed continuously in the form of directional surface to in-seam drilling. Preferably the step of extracting the biogenically enhanced methane involves pumping from at least one of the vertical wells to provide a pressure gradient for diffusion of the methane from the adjacent coal seams. More preferably or additionally the extraction 30 step also involves sequestering C02 to the coal seams to aid development of the biogenically enhanced methane. Even more preferably the extraction step involves a preparatory step of dewatering the coal deposit by pumping water from the deposit. Generally the microbial matter includes methanogens such as bacteria and archaea.
WO 2011/000022 PCT/AU2010/000310 3 Generally the pre-treatment materials include caustic materials. Generally the coal deposit includes lignite, peat or sub-bituminous coal and oil shale. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES In order to achieve a better understanding of the nature of the present invention, a 5 preferred embodiment of a method of extracting methane from a coal deposit will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic sectional view of one embodiment of a preferred methodology for extracting methane from a coal deposit; and 10 Figure 2 is a schematic plan view of another embodiment of extracting methane from a coal deposit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a preferred methodology of extracting methane from a coal deposit involves the following general steps: 15 1. drilling generally vertically into a CBM deposit 10 to form a vertical well 12; 2. drilling directionally off the vertical well 12 into a coal seam 14 to form two (2) in-seam boreholes 16 and 18 respectively; 3. depositing pre-treatment materials, nutrients and possibly microbial matter (depicted by the arrow 20) into one of the boreholes 16 via the vertical well 12; 20 4. extracting biogenically enhanced methane (depicted by the arrow 22) from the coal deposit 10 via the other borehole 18 and the vertical well 12. In this particular embodiment, the coal deposit 10 is a lower rank coal such as a lignite deposit. The invention may extend to other coal deposits such as a coal bed methane deposit. The coal deposit may also extend to peat or sub-bituminous coals and oil shale. 25 The deposition steps in step 3 are generally performed separately and sequentially. The pre-treatment materials include caustic materials. The microbial matter includes methanogens such as methanogenic bacteria and archaea which provides enhanced biogenic treatment in the lignite deposit 10. In this example the two in-seam boreholes 16 and 18 are positioned relative to one 30 another to exploit the natural permeability anisotropy of the lignite deposit 10. The WO 2011/000022 PCT/AU2010/000310 4 boreholes 16/18 of Figure 1 are thus lined up vertically to maximise the methanogenic process using natural vertical pathways (such a joints depicted by arrows 24). In the embodiment of Figure 2, the boreholes 16/18 are lined up horizontally to maximise production along natural horizontal pathways (bedding planes depicted by arrows 26). For 5 ease of reference the same reference numerals have been used to designate corresponding "components" of the alternate embodiments of Figures 1 and 2. In this embodiment the deposition of the pre-treatment materials and optionally the methanogenic bacteria into the borehole 16 is effected as a pre-treatment and injection steps via the vertical well 12. The borehole 16 thus functions as a pre-treatment and 10 injection well. The injection of these materials into the borehole 16 may involve a gravity feed system alone or a combination of gravity and pumping from the vertical well 12 head. The injected materials then travel directionally across the coal seam such as 14 via gravity to the other adjacent in-seam borehole 18. The materials migrate directionally with the assistance of gravity in the general direction of maximum permeability of the lignite 15 deposit 10. It will be appreciated that the lignite deposit 10 and associated coal seam 14 of Figure 1 has maximum vertical permeability whereas the coal seam depicted in Figure 2 has "seam dip" with maximum horizontal permeability. In each of the examples of Figures 1 and 2, drilling of the pre-treatment and injection borehole 16 and the capture borehole 18 is provided in order to maximise the natural 20 permeability and anisotropy of the lignite deposit 10. The borehole 16 provides the pre-treatment and injection pathway and the other borehole 18 provides the capture pathway. The migration of the injected materials between the pair of boreholes 16 and 18 is promoted by reducing the pressure in the capture borehole 18. This pressure reduction is most typically effected by using a vacuum pump installed at the head of the vertical well 25 12. In this embodiment extracting the biogenically enhanced methane from the lignite deposit involves the following steps: 1. de-watering of the coal seam such as 14 where water which is formed as a by-product of coalification is pumped from the lignite deposit 10; 30 2. biogenically enhanced methane is extracted by continued pumping to create the required pressure gradient for diffusion of methane from the coal seam such as 14 into the capture borehole 18 and the vertical well 12.
WO 2011/000022 PCT/AU2010/000310 5 This extraction of biogenically enhanced methane may also involve pumping or sequestering carbon dioxide to the coal seam such as 14 to aid development of the biogenically enhanced methane. Now that a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, it will be apparent 5 to those skilled in the art that the method of extracting methane from a coal deposit has the following advantages: 1. the methodology provides an effective way of recovering biogenically enhanced methane from lignite and other coal deposits using the natural permeability anisotropy of the deposit; 10 2. effective methane extraction can be provided by combining directional in-seam drilling with biogenic enhancement of the coal deposit; 3. the process may utilise pre-existing vertical wells which are effective coupled by directional in-seam drilling of sub-parallel directional boreholes; 4. the process is relatively fast, compared to natural bio enhancement, by injecting 15 for example methanogens and nutrients into coal seams to promote this otherwise natural reaction to occur in real time; 5. the process integrates the highly specialised discipline of directional drilling technology and presents it as a delivery and capture mechanism suitable for a relatively fast bio enhancement process.. 20 Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention described herein is susceptible to variations and modifications other than those specifically described. For example, the orientation and disposition of the wells and boreholes may vary from that described and illustrated provided effective deposition and migration of the injected materials and subsequent extraction of biogenically enhanced methane can be effected. 25 All such variations and modifications are to be considered within the scope of the present invention, the nature of which is to be determined from the foregoing description.

Claims (15)

1. A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit, said method comprising the steps of: drilling substantially vertically into a coal deposit to form one or more 5 vertical wells; drilling directionally off said one or more vertical wells into one or more coal seams of said deposit to form one or more in-seam boreholes; depositing of microbial matter into at least one of the in-seam boreholes via at least one of the vertical wells thereby enhancing methane production; 10 extracting biogenically enhanced methane from the coal deposit, said extraction being via said one or more of the vertical wells.
2. A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit as defined in claim 1 also comprising the step of depositing nutrients into the in-seam boreholes.
3. A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit as defined in claim 2 wherein 15 the steps of depositing the pre-treatment materials and the nutrients into the in-seam boreholes are performed sequentially.
4. A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit as defined in claim 3 wherein the step of depositing the microbial matter into the in-seam boreholes follows the sequential deposition of the pre-treatment materials and the nutrients. 20
5. A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit, said method comprising the steps of: drilling substantially vertically into a coal deposit to form one or more vertical wells; drilling directionally off said one or more vertical wells into one or more coal 25 seams of said deposit to form one or more in-seam boreholes; depositing of nutrients into at least one of the in-seam boreholes via at least one of the vertical wells thereby enhancing methane production; extracting biogenically enhanced methane from the coal deposit, said extraction being via said one or more of the vertical wells. 30
6. A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit, said method comprising the steps of: drilling substantially vertically into a coal deposit to form one or more vertical wells; WO 2011/000022 PCT/AU2010/000310 7 drilling directionally off said one or more vertical wells into one or more coal seams of said deposit to form one or more in-seam boreholes; depositing of pre-treatment materials into at least one of the in-seam boreholes via at least one of the vertical wells thereby enhancing methane 5 production; extracting biogenically enhanced methane from the coal deposit, said extraction being via said one or more of the vertical wells.
7. A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit as defined in any one of the preceding claims also comprising the step of promoting the passage of the pre-treatment 10 materials, nutrients or microbial matter across the coal seam between a pair of adjacent in-seam boreholes.
8. A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit as defined in any one of the preceding claims wherein this step of promoting the passage of this injected material is effected by reducing the pressure in one of the pair of said in-seam boreholes. 15
9. A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit as defined in any one of the preceding claims wherein the steps of drilling vertically and drilling directionally are performed continuously in the form of directional surface to in-seam drilling.
10. A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit as defined in any one of the preceding claims wherein the step of extracting the biogenically enhanced methane 20 involves pumping from at least one of the vertical wells to provide a pressure gradient for diffusion of the methane from the adjacent coal seams.
11. A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit as defined in any one of the preceding claims wherein the extraction step also involves sequestering C02 to the coal seams to aid development of the biogenically enhanced methane. 25
12. A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit as defined in any one of the preceding claims wherein the extraction step involves a preparatory step of dewatering the coal deposit by pumping water from the deposit.
13. A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit as defined in claim 1 wherein the microbial matter includes methanogens including bacteria and archaea. 30
14. A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit as defined in claim 6 wherein the pre-treatment materials include caustic materials. WO 2011/000022 PCT/AU2010/000310 8
15. A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit as defined in any one of the preceding claims wherein the coal deposit includes lignite, peat or sub-bituminous coal and oil shale.
AU2010268745A 2009-07-01 2010-03-18 A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit Abandoned AU2010268745A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU2010268745A AU2010268745A1 (en) 2009-07-01 2010-03-18 A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit

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Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU2009903082 2009-07-01
AU2009903082A AU2009903082A0 (en) 2009-07-01 A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit
PCT/AU2010/000310 WO2011000022A1 (en) 2009-07-01 2010-03-18 A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit
AU2010268745A AU2010268745A1 (en) 2009-07-01 2010-03-18 A method of extracting methane from a coal deposit

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CN113669045A (en) * 2021-09-29 2021-11-19 中国石油大学(北京) Method and processor for in-situ conversion between same-well sections of coal bed horizontal well

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CN102434185A (en) * 2011-09-23 2012-05-02 河南中煤矿业科技发展有限公司 Coal mine gas fast solvent and application method thereof
CN103161440A (en) * 2013-02-27 2013-06-19 中联煤层气国家工程研究中心有限责任公司 Single-well coalbed methane horizontal well system and finishing method thereof
CN107100663B (en) * 2017-05-02 2019-08-06 中国矿业大学 A kind of accurate pumping method of coal mine gas
CN107330220B (en) * 2017-07-20 2020-10-13 中国矿业大学(北京) Coal seam bedding gas drilling hole design method considering permeability anisotropy
CN112127868B (en) * 2020-09-27 2021-08-24 中国地质大学(北京) Test device for simulating underground coal gasification and oil shale co-production and test method thereof

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