Carbon sequestration potential of the South Wales Coalfield

Abstract

This paper evaluates the carbon dioxide storage capacity of the unmined coal resources in the South Wales Coalfield, UK. Although a significant amount of the remaining coal resource may be mineable via traditional techniques, the prospects for opening new mines appear poor. In addition, many of the South Wales coal seams are lying unused since they are too deep to be mined economically using conventional methods. There is instead a growing worldwide interest in the potential for releasing the

Deep seam and minesoil carbon sequestration potential of the South Wales Coalfield, UK

“…An estimate of the coal seam CO2 storage potential was given by Sarhosis et al (2016a) with coal seams lying at depths exceeding 1800 m in the West but not reaching depths greater than 60 m in the East (Adams, 1967). The seams considered by Sarhosis et al (2016a) for C sequestration were those of the Middle and Lower Coal Measures achieving thicknesses greater than 1.5 m and satisfying a 500 m minimum depth constraint. By collecting the candidate seams into a number of 'packages', the digitised, three-dimensional map yielded a cumulative residual coal resource of around 12,700 Mt.…”

“…The extent of the South Wales Coalfield and the location of field survey sites used in this study to estimate the C sequestration potential of minesoils (S1-S8 see Table 3). (Sarhosis et al, 2016a).…”

“…The study by Sarhosis et al (2016a) provided an estimate of the effective C sequestration capacity of coal seams in the South Wales Coalfield by making an analogy to the reserves estimation for coalbed methane (CBM). In summary, a total 'theoretical' coalbed methane in situ was first estimated then converted to the effective gas capacity by applying the factors and for well completion and reservoir conditions, respectively.…”

“…The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the CO2 storage potential and practicality of deep coal seams and of minesoil, using the South Wales Coalfield as a case study. A parallel study (Sarhosis et al, 2016a) generated data on coal seam sequestration potential. This work and previous studies have considered coal and minesoils as individual sinks for CO2, here we emphasise their comparison at a regional scale.…”

Novel Techniques to Simulate and Monitor Contaminant–Geomaterial Interactions

“…Some good examples of gas-geomaterial interaction are: remediation of contaminated soils by air sparging [145], carbon sequestration [154], radioactive waste disposal [104] and gas permeation in porous media [151]. Incidentally, determination of specific surface area, SSA, of geomaterials, by employing: (a) Blaine's air permeability apparatus [6] and (b) absorption/adsorption techniques, wherein methylene blue, nitrogen gas, ethylene glycol monoethyl ether, EGME and air, are employed [5], is another good examples of gas-geomaterial interaction.…”