12-14 September, 2011, Lucknow - Earth Science India

National Conference on Science of Climate Change and Earth’s Sustainability: Issues and Challenges ‘A Scientist-People Partnership’
12-14 September, 2011, Lucknow
TARGET POTENTIAL FOR ZERO GAS EMISSIONS IN
INDIA: CO 2 SEQUESTRATION IN COAL BEDS
V. Vishal 1* and T.N. Singh 2
1 IITB-Monash Research Academy, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400 076.
2 Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400 076.
* email: v.vishal@iitb.ac.in
Coal is one of the most important and interesting energy sources of today and
future. It produces the maximum CO 2 per unit energy of all fossil fuels, yet it is
identified enough in abundance to last for centuries. It is also gaining attention for
production of an alternative energy source i.e. natural gas called coalbed methane
(CBM) vis-à-vis for long term storage of waste green house gas namely CO 2 . CBM has
traditionally been identified as an evil companion of coal, bringing in major safety
problems in underground mining and later got recognized as an important source of low
carbon green energy. Similarly, carbon dioxide which was initially injected
underground to enhance the yield of hydrocarbons in oilfield is now a critical and
promising solution for reducing its atmospheric concentration. The dual benefit
approach of using Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology in enhanced oil and
gas recovery seems to be a win-win proposition.
India with its large potential coal reserves has ample opportunities for production
of CBM. At the same time, India is one of the major contributors of waste gases into the
atmosphere. Therefore, sequestration of CO 2 , if at all planned, must be opted first in the
deep seated coals or methane producing units. This will mitigate the costs of CO 2
capture, compression, transport and storage by enhanced recovery of methane.
Limited studies on the numerical simulation of CO 2 enhanced CBM recovery has
been carried out for Indian scenario. Numerical approach, despite its constraints, is a
key to understand the details of a process with relative ease as compared to the actual
set up which involves large influx of money. This study is conducted for modeling the
scenario of CBM producing units in India under a scenario of CO 2 injection and the
results indicate that long term storage of gases in coal beds are feasible for a geoscientific
point of view. The production and storage characteristics of the coal block has
been investigated and it is recommended to opt for CO 2 enhanced ECBM recovery in
the longer run.
127