A Research On The Exploration Of Coal Bed Gas In Shanxi Province

Shanxi province is a major base of energy and chemical industry in China. It is entitled with abundant coal resource, spreading over 94 counties with an area of about 60,000 km (amounting for about 40% of the provincial area), among which, coal resources buried less than 2000 meters deep is 665.2 million tons, and detected resources are 265.28 million tons, amounting for about 1/3 of the national coal reserves. Coal bed gas (CBG) is the untypical natural gas with methane as its main component.Abundant coal resources give Shanxi an obvious advantage in CBG. Through investigation, CBG in coal bed is above 2m3/t; the amount of CBG with a bury depth less than 2000m is 9.1 trillion m3, covering 91% of total resource reserves. Methane in CBG has a high concentration (normally 30—60%, 80% at most) , and high calorific capability and has a small bury depth and is easy to exploit. What's more, CBG is a new clean energy, whose exploration is of great help to relieve the supply-demand conflicts of our province.CBG exploration in Shanxi can be traced back to 1970s. Around 1975, to solve the gas problem in mine, national government invested to drill some holes to release gas. However, limited by technology and knowledge at that time, these mines were closed one after another. The research and exploration is extended. The problems in this process are as following, such as the poor drilling technology, the extended construction period, the low saturation of gas in the mine and so on.In late 1980s, inspired by American experience in CBG exploration, research on CBG and ground drill exploration became hot again. Rich coal resources and the bright future of CBG makes Shanxi the hot spot of both domestic and foreign developers. Nowadays, the exploration of CBG is of special urgency and importance to Shanxi, and if not, the gas leaked to the environment during coal mining, is a waste of resources and aggravates the greenhouse effect. To sum up CBG exploration will bring great benefits to people nowadays and generations to follow.The structure of the thesis is as following:In Chapter 1, the author will discuss the development of CBG exploration both at home and abroad and introduced the basic concepts of CBG technology.In Chapter 2 the author will analyze the historical opportunity of CBG exploration in Shanxi province, compare CBG and other energy and discuss the social and economic benefits of CBG exploration in terms of coal mine safety, environment and economic benefits.In chapter 3, the author will analyze the status quo of the development and application of CBG technology, in terms of the collection technology of CBG, drilling technology and ground exploration and mine production technology. Also, the author will analyze the problems and challenges of CBG exploration.Chapter 4 is the core of the thesis, in which the author will analyzethe strategies and suggestions for CBG exploration in Shanxi. Analyses are conducted from three aspects, namely the improvement of CBG technology, the promise of LNG of CBG and policy direction on CBG.Chapter 5 is conclusions and outlook. The author will make conclusive summary on CBG exploration in Shanxi province and envision the future of CBG technology.