CMM activities in Kazakhstan - Current status and potential prospects - PowerPoint Presentation

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CMM activities in Kazakhstan - Current status and potential prospects

Sergazy

Baimukhametov

Advisor

to

CD of AMT

Evgeny

Alexeyev

Consultant, Methane Center/CIS LLP

International Workshop on Best Practices in Methane Drainage and Use in Coal Mines, 9-10 March, 2017,

Ranchi, Jharkhand, India

Mining sector and CMM in Kazakhstan: Key Facts

Coal mining is one of the key industries of Kazakhstan economy.

Kazakhstan

is considered in the first ten leaders by the volume of coal reserves after China, USA, Russia, Australia, India, South Africa and Ukraine.

All

8

underground coal

mines in

the country are located in Karaganda coal basin and

operated by

Coal Division of ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC

with overall annual production

around 11.5 million tons of metallurgical & steam coal per annum.

The coal mines in Karaganda basin are extremely gassy with in-situ methane contents ranging from 8.5 up to 28 m3/ton and higher

.

The

methane is currently

drained by

means of ventilation, pre-drainage and post-drainage

methods.

Current

overall methane emission at the mines reaches up to 350 mln.m3/a.

Gas drainage practice

CMM in Karaganda is being extracted with

application of the majority of

available

up-to-date

techniques

Courtesy of

Green Gas International

Courtesy of

Coal Division of ArcelorMittal Temirtau

Concerns of CMM drainage specialists:

Pre-drainage efficiency in conditions of low permeability

Prevention

and control of coal and gas outbursts and existing best practice

Stability

of subsurface pre-drainage boreholes

Utilization

of mine gas from drainage system Utilization of ventilation methaneEffective practice of incentives for mine gas utilization

Three key aspects of CMM problem in the country:Mitigation of CMM emission to the atmosphere as a potent GHG contributor

Degassing of coal seams and coal mines in order to secure safety of mining operations

Commercial production and utilization on coal methane

ADOPTED SOLUTION 1: Gas drainage gallery (subsurface pre-drainage)

Courtesy of Coal Division of AMT

D6

seam

(primary quality

coking

coal) has been found to be extremely outburst prone, particularly in the lower bank. The permeability of the seam is extremely low. The seam is a thick, with a very distinct shear zone (0.2-1.2 m) in the bottom section.

Another roadway (gallery, width of 5,7m) driven in the floor rocks 10 meters below the mined coal seam along the future longwall gate and boreholes drilled from there towards D6 with a purpose to drain gas downwards from the coal face just before the front abutment, where the strata becomes de-stressed. Thus a certain efficiency of pre-drainage is reached.

CMM drainage system captured over 70 mln.m3 of conditioned gas in 2015. Karaganda is located in the area of sharp continental climate where the ambient temperature usually reach over +30C

0

in summer time and gets down to -40C

0

in winter and the cold period of the year usually lasts for over 6 months.

ADOPTED SOLUTION 2:

Mine gas utilization for heating purpose

Boiler houses upgraded at

several mines of the group in order to utilize CMM with concentration exceeding 30%

(drained

from coal seams and coal-bearing strata while mining

operations)

for the purpose of heating ventilation air for the mines over cold seasons

and (at

a few

mines)

to generate heat and hot water for the mine facilities.

Courtesy of

Methane Center

Courtesy of

“Industrial Karaganda”

1.4 MW GE Jenbacher 420 series containerized CHP has been in operation (initially at Lenina mine) since late 2011 as a pilot project using gas between 25% and 50% CH4 from surface gob wells. The generated electricity is fed to the group substation of

Lenina

mine and covers up to 20% of its power load. The unit is operated in automatic mode.

ADOPTED SOLUTION 3:

Drained CMM to power

Courtesy of Coal Division of AMT

Practical experience of the CHP operation revealed

a possibility to use most of the waste heat for the purpose of heating water for the mine needs even in summer period (providing additional mitigation of emission and coal consumption by

boilers.Current CMM based power potential of the mines is > 40MWel.