Abstract:A coupled thermo-mechanical model has been developed to assess permeability changes in the vicinity of an underground coal gasification (UCG) reactor resulting from excavation and thermo-mechanical effects. Thereto, we consider a stepwise UCG reactor excavation based on a pre-defined coal consumption rate and dynamic thermal boundary conditions. Simulation results demonstrate that thermo-mechanical rock behavior is mainly driven by the thermal expansion coefficient, thermal conductivity, tensile strength and elastic modulus of the surrounding rock. A comparison between temperature-dependent and temperature-independent parameters applied in the simulations indicates notable variations in the distribution of total displacements in the UCG reactor vicinity related to thermal stress, but only negligible differences in permeability changes. Hence, temperature-dependent thermo-mechanical parameters have to be considered in the assessment of near-field UCG impacts only, while far-field models can achieve a higher computational efficiency by using temperature-independent thermo-mechanical parameters. Considering the findings of the present study in the large-scale assessment of potential environmental impacts of underground coal gasification, representative coupled simulations based on complex 3D large-scale models become computationally feasible.
The Ketzin pilot site, led by the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, is Europe's longestoperating on-shore CO 2 storage site with the aim of increasing the understanding of geological storage of CO 2 in saline aquifers. Located near Berlin, the Ketzin pilot site is an in situ laboratory for CO 2 storage in an anticlinal structure in the Northeast German Basin.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.