scholarly journals Environmental issues associated with coal seam gas recovery: managing the fracking boom

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme E. Batley ◽  
Rai S. Kookana
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Surface Water Quality ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Ecological Risks ◽  
Coal Seam Gas ◽  
Gas Recovery ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Energy Needs

Environmental context Coal seam gas reserves are likely to make a major contribution to future energy needs. However, the new technology for exploiting these reserves, termed hydraulic fracturing, raises several environmental issues. We discuss the research required to assess the ecological risks from gas recovery. Abstract Coal seam gas reserves represent a major contribution to energy needs, however, gas recovery by hydraulic fracturing (fracking or fraccing), requires management to minimise any environmental effects. Although the industry is adapting where possible to more benign fracking chemicals, there is still a lack of information on exposure to natural and added chemicals, and their fate and ecotoxicity in both the discharged produced and flow-back waters. Geogenic contaminants mobilised from the coal seams during fracking may add to the mixture of chemicals with the potential to affect both ground and surface water quality. The research needs to better assess the ecological risks from gas recovery are discussed.

scholarly journals A Generic Method for Predicting Environmental Concentrations of Hydraulic Fracturing Chemicals in Soil and Shallow Groundwater

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Mallants ◽  
Elise Bekele ◽  
Wolfgang Schmid ◽  
Konrad Miotlinski ◽  
Andrew Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Shallow Groundwater ◽  
Solute Concentration ◽  
Coal Seam Gas ◽  
Transport Modelling ◽  
Environmental Concentrations ◽  
Modelling Framework ◽  
Recharge Rates ◽  
Migration Pathways

Source-pathway-receptor analyses involving solute migration pathways through soil and shallow groundwater are typically undertaken to assess how people and the environment could come into contact with chemicals associated with coal seam gas operations. For the potential short-term and long-term release of coal seam gas fluids from storage ponds, solute concentration and dilution factors have been calculated using a water flow and solute transport modelling framework for an unsaturated zone-shallow groundwater system. Uncertainty about dilution factors was quantified for a range of system parameters: (i) leakage rates from storage ponds combined with recharge rates, (ii) a broad combination of soil and groundwater properties, and (iii) a series of increasing travel distances through soil and groundwater. Calculated dilution factors in the soil increased from sand to loam soil and increased with an increasing recharge rate, while dilution decreased for a decreasing leak rate and leak duration. In groundwater, dilution factors increase with increasing aquifer hydraulic conductivity and riverbed conductance. For a hypothetical leak duration of three years, the combined soil and groundwater dilution factors are larger than 6980 for more than 99.97% of bores that are likely to be farther than 100 m from the source. Dilution factors were more sensitive to uncertainty in leak rates than recharge rates. Based on this dilution factor, a comparison of groundwater predicted environmental concentrations and predicted no-effect concentrations for a subset of hydraulic fracturing chemicals used in Australia revealed that for all but two of the evaluated chemicals the estimated groundwater concentration (for a hypothetical water bore at 100 m from the solute source) is smaller than the no-effect concentration for the protection of aquatic ecosystems.

Quantifying the impact of capillary trapping on coal seam gas recovery

2020 ◽  
Vol 83 ◽  
pp. 103588
Author(s):  
Yiran Zhu ◽  
Huilin Xing ◽  
Victor Rudolph ◽  
Zhongwei Chen
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
Coal Seam Gas ◽  
Gas Recovery ◽  
Capillary Trapping ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Nitrogen Injection To Flush Coal Seam Gas Out Of Coal: An Experimental Study

2015 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 1013-1028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Naj Aziz ◽  
Ting Ren ◽  
Jan Nemcik ◽  
Shihao Tu
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Gas Content ◽  
Coal Seams ◽  
Coal Seam Gas ◽  
Gas Recovery ◽  
Nitrogen Injection ◽  
Gas Desorption ◽  
Effective Role ◽  
Study Laboratory

Abstract Several mines operating in the Bulli seam of the Sydney Basin in NSW, Australia are experiencing difficulties in reducing gas content within the available drainage lead time in various sections of the coal deposit. Increased density of drainage boreholes has proven to be ineffective, particularly in sections of the coal seam rich in CO2. Plus with the increasing worldwide concern on green house gas reduction and clean energy utilisation, significant attention is paid to develop a more practical and economical method of enhancing the gas recovery from coal seams. A technology based on N2 injection was proposed to flush the Coal Seam Gas (CSG) out of coal and enhance the gas drainage process. In this study, laboratory tests on CO2 and CH4 gas recovery from coal by N2 injection are described and results show that N2 flushing has a significant impact on the CO2 and CH4 desorption and removal from coal. During the flushing stage, it was found that N2 flushing plays a more effective role in reducing adsorbed CH4 than CO2. Comparatively, during the desorption stage, the study shows gas desorption after N2 flushing plays a more effective role in reducing adsorbed CO2 than CH4.

Thermal Gas Recovery from Coal Seam Gas Reservoirs Using Underground Coal Gasification

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alireza Salmachi ◽  
Manouchehr Haghighi ◽  
Pavel G. Bedrikovetsky ◽  
Chaoshui Xu
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
Coal Gasification ◽  
Underground Coal Gasification ◽  
Coal Seam Gas ◽  
Gas Reservoirs ◽  
Gas Recovery

In vitro cytotoxicity assessment of a hydraulic fracturing fluid

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeleine E. Payne ◽  
Heather F. Chapman ◽  
Janet Cumming ◽  
Frederic D. L. Leusch
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Produced Water ◽  
Coal Seam Gas ◽  
Fracturing Fluid ◽  
Human Health Risks ◽  
Fracturing Fluids ◽  
Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid

Environmental context Hydraulic fracturing fluids, used in large volumes by the coal seam gas mining industry, are potentially present in the environment either in underground formations or in mine wastewater (produced water). Previous studies of the human health and environmental effects of this practice have been limited because they use only desktop methods and have not considered combined mixture toxicity. We use a novel in vitro method for toxicity assessment, and describe the toxicity of a hydraulic fracturing fluid on a human gastrointestinal cell line. Abstract Hydraulic fracturing fluids are chemical mixtures used to enhance oil and gas extraction. There are concerns that fracturing fluids are hazardous and that their release into the environment – by direct injection to coal and shale formations or as residue in produced water – may have effects on ecosystems, water quality and public health. This study aimed to characterise the acute cytotoxicity of a hydraulic fracturing fluid using a human gastrointestinal cell line and, using this data, contribute to the understanding of potential human health risks posed by coal seam gas (CSG) extraction in Queensland, Australia. Previous published research on the health effects of hydraulic fracturing fluids has been limited to desktop studies of individual chemicals. As such, this study is one of the first attempts to characterise the toxicity of a hydraulic fracturing mixture using laboratory methods. The fracturing fluid was determined to be cytotoxic, with half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) values across mixture variations ranging between 25 and 51mM. When used by industry, these fracturing fluids would be at concentrations of over 200mM before injection into the coal seam. A 5-fold dilution would be sufficient to reduce the toxicity of the fluids to below the detection limit of the assay. It is unlikely that human exposure would occur at these high (‘before use’) concentrations and likely that the fluids would be diluted during use. Thus, it can be inferred that the level of acute risk to human health associated with the use of these fracturing fluids is low. However, a thorough exposure assessment and additional chronic and targeted toxicity assessments are required to conclusively determine human health risks.

Induced stress evolution of hydraulic fracturing in an inclined soft coal seam gas reservoir near a fault

2021 ◽  
Vol 88 ◽  
pp. 103794
Author(s):  
Qianting Hu ◽  
Zhizhong Jiang ◽  
Quangui Li ◽  
Wenbin Wu ◽  
Qingguo Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Stress Evolution ◽  
Coal Seam Gas ◽  
Gas Reservoir ◽  
Soft Coal ◽  
Induced Stress ◽  
Soft Coal Seam

LEGAL ISSUES FOR COOPERATIVE AND CONCURRENT MINING AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTION

2006 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 543
Author(s):  
J.S. Minchinton
Keyword(s):  
Coal Seam ◽  
International Markets ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Resource Extraction ◽  
Coal Seam Gas ◽  
Petroleum Production ◽  
Limited Government ◽  
Energy Needs ◽  
Government Involvement

Increasingly, miners and petroleum producers are seeking rights of access to the same territory to explore for and extract their favoured resource, particularly in areas where there are commercial quantities of coal seam gas.Governments are encouraging miners and petroleum producers to maximise the extraction of their respective resources to supply the growing energy needs of Australian and international markets. These powerful drivers have led to legislation in several states including Queensland to encourage cooperative resource extraction by different parties operating in the same area.But while legislation provides an overall framework, significant issues are left to resource companies to resolve through the development of technical and commercial solutions for the joint extraction of resources with limited government involvement. Once a technical and commercial solution is agreed, a legal agreement is necessary to cement the arrangement.What legal issues need to be considered in agreements between miners and petroleum producers? Will exploration need to be addressed separately from production? How can flexibility be built into the agreement to allow for a change in circumstance? How can disputes be resolved and what role is there for courts and tribunals in disputes? Will standard boilerplate provisions be adequate for the agreement in hand?This paper seeks to answer some of these questions by highlighting the commercial and legal issues relevant to negotiations with particular reference to coordination arrangements for overlapping mining leases and petroleum leases under the Queensland coal seam gas regime.

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