IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i5p1512-d145570.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Some Influences of Underground Coal Gasification on the Environment

Author

Listed:
  • Karol Kostúr

    (Institute of Control and Informatization of Production Processes, Faculty of BERG, Technical University of Kosice, 04001 Kosice, Slovakia)

  • Marek Laciak

    (Institute of Control and Informatization of Production Processes, Faculty of BERG, Technical University of Kosice, 04001 Kosice, Slovakia)

  • Milan Durdan

    (Institute of Control and Informatization of Production Processes, Faculty of BERG, Technical University of Kosice, 04001 Kosice, Slovakia)

Abstract

Increasing energy costs and energy demand have renewed global interest in clean coal technologies. Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) is an industrial process that converts coal into product gas. UCG is a promising technology with a lot of health, safety and environmental advantages over conventional mining techniques. UCG carries risks to human health, agriculture and the environment. This article briefly analyzes the advantages and negative environmental impacts of UCG. It describes experimental objects, mathematical models as tools for simulation cases and it used coal from UCG experiments in Cigel, Barbara and Wieczorek mines to analyze the environmental impacts of UCG. The gasification converts the carbon in the coal to syngas and heat. We carried out a numerical simulation of the two-dimensional unstable heat conduction in the coal and overburden, with the aim of judging the influence of this heat source on the surroundings, including the surface. The results show that the temperature in the surrounding rock first increases and then decreases with time, the peak of the temperature curve decreases gradually, and its position moves inside the surrounding rock from the ignition point. A small amount of potentially dangerous syngas leaks from the UCG cavity and channels into vulnerable areas depending on working pressures. The danger of explosion and poisoning in vulnerable zones was evaluated by the simulation model. The results show that the danger is real but by monitoring and controlling the air in the vulnerable area it is possible to reduce this risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Karol Kostúr & Marek Laciak & Milan Durdan, 2018. "Some Influences of Underground Coal Gasification on the Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-31, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:5:p:1512-:d:145570
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1512/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/5/1512/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xiaohuan Lyu & Anna Shi, 2018. "Research on the Renewable Energy Industry Financing Efficiency Assessment and Mode Selection," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, January.
    2. Shon R. Hiatt & Jake B. Grandy & Brandon H. Lee, 2015. "Organizational Responses to Public and Private Politics: An Analysis of Climate Change Activists and U.S. Oil and Gas Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(6), pages 1769-1786, December.
    3. Hammond, G.P. & Akwe, S.S. Ondo & Williams, S., 2011. "Techno-economic appraisal of fossil-fuelled power generation systems with carbon dioxide capture and storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 975-984.
    4. Imran, Muhammad & Kumar, Dileep & Kumar, Naresh & Qayyum, Abdul & Saeed, Ahmed & Bhatti, Muhammad Shamim, 2014. "Environmental concerns of underground coal gasification," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 600-610.
    5. Laciak, Marek & Kostúr, Karol & Durdán, Milan & Kačur, Ján & Flegner, Patrik, 2016. "The analysis of the underground coal gasification in experimental equipment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 332-343.
    6. Khadse, Anil & Qayyumi, Mohammed & Mahajani, Sanjay & Aghalayam, Preeti, 2007. "Underground coal gasification: A new clean coal utilization technique for India," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(11), pages 2061-2071.
    7. Mocek, Piotr & Pieszczek, Marek & Świądrowski, Jerzy & Kapusta, Krzysztof & Wiatowski, Marian & Stańczyk, Krzysztof, 2016. "Pilot-scale underground coal gasification (UCG) experiment in an operating Mine “Wieczorek” in Poland," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 313-321.
    8. Tao Ding & Yadong Ning & Yan Zhang, 2017. "The Contribution of China’s Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) to the Reduction of Global CO 2 Emissions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-15, May.
    9. Florin Onea & Eugen Rusu, 2018. "Sustainability of the Reanalysis Databases in Predicting the Wind and Wave Power along the European Coasts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, January.
    10. Christopher Otto & Thomas Kempka, 2015. "Thermo-Mechanical Simulations of Rock Behavior in Underground Coal Gasification Show Negligible Impact of Temperature-Dependent Parameters on Permeability Changes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-28, June.
    11. Prabu, V. & Jayanti, S., 2012. "Underground coal-air gasification based solid oxide fuel cell system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 406-414.
    12. Derek Wang & Tianchi Li, 2018. "Carbon Emission Performance of Independent Oil and Natural Gas Producers in the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, January.
    13. Sybille van den Hove & Marc Le Menestrel & Henri-Claude de Bettignies, 2002. "The oil industry and climate change: strategies and ethical dilemmas," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 3-18, March.
    14. Jon Birger Skjærseth & Tora Skodvin, 2001. "Climate Change and the Oil Industry: Common Problems, Different Strategies," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 1(4), pages 43-64, November.
    15. Weizhong Su & Yong Zhang & Yingbao Yang & Gaobin Ye, 2014. "Examining the Impact of Greenspace Patterns on Land Surface Temperature by Coupling LiDAR Data with a CFD Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(10), pages 1-16, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ján Kačur & Marek Laciak & Milan Durdán & Patrik Flegner, 2023. "Investigation of Underground Coal Gasification in Laboratory Conditions: A Review of Recent Research," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-55, August.
    2. Oleg Bazaluk & Vasyl Lozynskyi & Volodymyr Falshtynskyi & Pavlo Saik & Roman Dychkovskyi & Edgar Cabana, 2021. "Experimental Studies of the Effect of Design and Technological Solutions on the Intensification of an Underground Coal Gasification Process," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    3. Milan Durdán & Marta Benková & Marek Laciak & Ján Kačur & Patrik Flegner, 2021. "Regression Models Utilization to the Underground Temperature Determination at Coal Energy Conversion," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-28, September.
    4. Marian Wiatowski & Krzysztof Kapusta & Aleksandra Strugała-Wilczek & Krzysztof Stańczyk & Alberto Castro-Muñiz & Fabián Suárez-García & Juan Ignacio Paredes, 2023. "Large-Scale Experimental Simulations of In Situ Coal Gasification in Terms of Process Efficiency and Physicochemical Properties of Process By-Products," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-22, May.
    5. Yuteng Xiao & Jihang Yin & Yifan Hu & Junzhe Wang & Hongsheng Yin & Honggang Qi, 2019. "Monitoring and Control in Underground Coal Gasification: Current Research Status and Future Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, January.
    6. Krzysztof Skrzypkowski & Krzysztof Zagórski & Anna Zagórska, 2021. "Determination of the Extent of the Rock Destruction Zones around a Gasification Channel on the Basis of Strength Tests of Sandstone and Claystone Samples Heated at High Temperatures up to 1200 °C and ," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-27, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stefan Zelenak & Erika Skvarekova & Andrea Senova & Gabriel Wittenberger, 2021. "The Usage of UCG Technology as Alternative to Reach Low-Carbon Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-15, June.
    2. Wang, Xiaorui & Zhang, Qinghe & Yuan, Liang, 2024. "A coupled thermal-force-chemical-displacement multi-field model for underground coal gasification based on controlled retraction injection point technology and its thermal analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    3. Kumari, Geeta & Vairakannu, Prabu, 2018. "CO2-air based two stage gasification of low ash and high ash Indian coals in the context of underground coal gasification," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 822-832.
    4. Natalie Nakaten & Thomas Kempka, 2019. "Techno-Economic Comparison of Onshore and Offshore Underground Coal Gasification End-Product Competitiveness," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-28, August.
    5. Hongtao Liu & Feng Chen & Yuanyuan Wang & Gang Liu & Hong Yao & Shuqin Liu, 2018. "Experimental Study of Reverse Underground Coal Gasification," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-13, October.
    6. Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki & Wang, Derek, 2018. "DEA environmental assessment on US petroleum industry: Non-radial approach with translation invariance in time horizon," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 276-289.
    7. Derek Wang & Tianchi Li, 2018. "Carbon Emission Performance of Independent Oil and Natural Gas Producers in the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, January.
    8. Fa-qiang Su & Akihiro Hamanaka & Ken-ichi Itakura & Gota Deguchi & Wenyan Zhang & Hua Nan, 2018. "Evaluation of a Compact Coaxial Underground Coal Gasification System Inside an Artificial Coal Seam," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-11, April.
    9. Oleg Bazaluk & Vasyl Lozynskyi & Volodymyr Falshtynskyi & Pavlo Saik & Roman Dychkovskyi & Edgar Cabana, 2021. "Experimental Studies of the Effect of Design and Technological Solutions on the Intensification of an Underground Coal Gasification Process," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    10. Ding, Kangle & Zhang, Changmin, 2017. "Interactions between organic nitrogen and inorganic matter in the pyrolysis zone of underground coal gasification: Insights from controlled pyrolysis experiments," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 279-293.
    11. Olateju, Babatunde & Kumar, Amit, 2013. "Techno-economic assessment of hydrogen production from underground coal gasification (UCG) in Western Canada with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) for upgrading bitumen from oil sands," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 428-440.
    12. Prabu, V. & Geeta, K., 2015. "CO2 enhanced in-situ oxy-coal gasification based carbon-neutral conventional power generating systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 672-683.
    13. Mohammadreza Shahbazi & Mehdi Najafi & Mohammad Fatehi Marji, 2019. "On the mitigating environmental aspects of a vertical well in underground coal gasification method," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 373-398, March.
    14. Prabu, V., 2015. "Integration of in-situ CO2-oxy coal gasification with advanced power generating systems performing in a chemical looping approach of clean combustion," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 1-13.
    15. Chang, Youngho & Yong, Jiayun, 2007. "Differing perspectives of major oil firms on future energy developments: An illustrative framework," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 5466-5480, November.
    16. Li, Xin & Tian, Jijun & Ju, Yiwen & Chen, Yanpeng, 2022. "Permeability variations of lignite and bituminous coals under elevated pyrolysis temperatures (35–600 °C): An experimental study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PA).
    17. Sarasini, Steven, 2013. "Institutional work and climate change: Corporate political action in the Swedish electricity industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 480-489.
    18. Tadadjeu, Sosson & Njangang, Henri & Woldemichael, Andinet, 2023. "Are resource-rich countries less responsive to global warming? Oil wealth and climate change policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    19. Xu, Jiuping & Gao, Wen & Xie, Heping & Dai, Jingqi & Lv, Chengwei & Li, Meihui, 2018. "Integrated tech-paradigm based innovative approach towards ecological coal mining," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 297-308.
    20. Xin, Lin & An, Mingyu & Feng, Mingze & Li, Kaixuan & Cheng, Weimin & Liu, Weitao & Hu, Xiangming & Wang, Zhigang & Han, Limin, 2021. "Study on pyrolysis characteristics of lump coal in the context of underground coal gasification," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:5:p:1512-:d:145570. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.