NEDO—1C—00ER03 Feasibility Study on Recovery and Utilization of Coal Mine Gas (CMG) at Donetsk Coal Field March, 2001 New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization Cntrusted to : Japan Coal Energy Center Feasibility Study on Recovery and Utilization of Coal Mine Gas (CMG) at Donetsk Coal Field Entrusted to: Japan Coal Energy Center Date of Preparation of the Report: March 2001 (242 pages) This study has been carried out with a view to the execution of a feasibility study for the Coal Mine Gas Recovery and Utilization Project in the Ukraine and the establishment of a Joint Implementation Project among Leading Industrialized Countries under the Kyoto Mechanism. NEDO—1C—00ER03 Feasibility Study on Recovery and Utilization of Coal Mine Gas (CMG) at Donetsk Coal Field March, 2001 New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization Entrusted to : Japan Coal Energy Center Foreword This Report presents the findings of Feasibility Study on Recovery and Utilization of Coal Mine Gas (CMG) at Donetsk Coal Field carried out in fiscal 2000 by the Japan Coal Energy Center (JCOAL) under an assignment from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). The 3rd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COPS) was held in Kyoto in December 1997. At the Conference, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted. For the prevention of global warming due to the emission of greenhouse gases, including primarily carbon dioxide, the industrialized nations agreed to reduce their average emission level by at least 5% during the period from 2008 to 2012 as compared with the 1990 level. The reduction target Japan has accepted is one of 6%. Under the terms of the Kyoto Protocol, the Kyoto Mechanism has been established to provide an element of flexibility in the method of achieving the reduction target. This includes “Joint Implementation ” with the industrialized countries, “Clean Development Mechanism ” with the developing countries, and “Emissions Trading. ” Japan, for her part, is intent on making constructive use of these mechanisms in order to achieve her reduction target. The Ukraine, the target country of the present study, has a coal mining industry that began to be developed in the 1850s and accounted for 80% of coal production in the whole of Russia in 1912. In the 1970s, production output reached 200 million tons, and this output level was maintained steady thereafter. In the mid-1970s, however, the Soviet government ruled that Ukrainian coal production did not command any priority and reduced its investments on a dramatic scale, with the result that coal output plummeted. Yet, even under these conditions, coal has continued to play a major role in the Ukraine, accounting as it does for approximately 30% of the country ’s primary energy. Amidst the current economic recession, aging and obsolescence are taking a heavy tool on coal mining equipment, with frequent mine accidents, including major disasters such as underground gas explosions. In this context, it may be pointed out that during 1990 - 1994, the incidence of gas explosions and eruptions doubled as compared with the previous five-year period, while the toll of deaths and injuries rose 3.5 fold. In the Donetsk Coal Field where the present study was conducted, the rate of coal mine gas recovery has fallen to an extremely low level (17%) as compared with the industrialized countries, after the collapse of the Ukrainian economy. The fact is that even from the l safety perspective, coal mine gas recovery is not taking place at an adequate level. In view of this, programs for improving mine safety and the underground working environment have been established in the Ukraine on many occasions and structural reform plans involving the closure of obsolete pits and the development of new promising collieries considered and promoted. These efforts have produced some effect, however small, with coal production at the Donetsk Coal Field showing an increase in 1999 against the previous year. Yet, the fact remains that sufficient results cannot be hoped for by the Ukraine ’s own efforts alone. In particular, the problem is that even though some progress, however small, has been made in the recovery of coal mine gas, the lack of effective gas utilization equipment means that practically almost all of the gas recovered in the Donetsk Coal Field is discharged into the atmosphere. Apart from the control of global warming, the introduction and dissemination of coal mine gas recovery and utilization equipment and the associated technologies are desirable also from the viewpoint of mine safety and in the interest of consolidating mine management. The present study has been carried out in order to investigate the feasibility of the coal mine gas recovery and utilization project in the Ukraine and the possibility of execution as a joint implementation project among industrialized countries under the Kyoto Mechanism. We hereby express our sincere thanks to the Ukrainian Alternative Fuels Center, the Donbass Colliery, the Ukrainian Ministry of Fuel and Energy, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Donetsk Coal Research Institute and all organizations concerned for the cooperation and guidance in this study. March 2001 Masaya Fujimura, Chairman Japan Coal Energy Center List of Survey Staff Members Name Position Area of Responsibility Ryozo Hirai Project Manager Basic Project Parameters (General Manager) Hiroaki Survey Team Basic Project Parameters(Deputy General Manger) Hirasawa Leader Planning Kazuo Department Overall Project Evaluation Sasaki Manager Shinkichi Overall Evaluation of Methane Gas Recovery and Survey Staff Nozawa Utilization Potential Akira Methane Gas Recovery Planning Survey Staff Tamari Methane Gas Management & Control Planning Engineering Koichi Planning of Methane Gas Draining Department Koizumi Gas Recovery Project as a Whole Manager Takashi Survey Staff Evaluation of Project’s Economic Viability Shibata Research Staff Akio Kondo Methane Gas Transportation and Storage Planning Leader Kazuhiko Research Staff Outline of Implementation Site Furukawa Leader Evaluation of Methane Gas Resources Outline of Implementation Site Akira Research Staff Evaluation of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Effect Takahara Cheif Cost/Benefit Evaluation, Alternative Energy Effect Fumihiro Research Staff Planning of Methane Gas Waste Heat Recovery Murakami Leader Masayoshi Research Staff Planning of Methane Gas Utilization for Power Uchida Leader Generation Outline of Implementation Site Naotaka Research Staff Evaluation of Joint Implementation Potential Minesaki Leader (Conditions for specific project formulation, possibility of obtaining approval) Kunio Research Staff Evaluation of Dissemination Potential Matsumoto Leader Ability of the Enterprise for Executing the Project Aiko Izumi Research Staff Plan for Project Finance Procurement Yusaku Research Staff Outline of Implementation Site Yokoyama Leader Assessment of Environmental Impact in General Takanori Research Staff Outline of Implementation Site Omori Leader Power Transmission and Distribution Plan in Outline The present study was carried out on the Komsomolets Donbass Colliery (referred to as the Donbass Colliery below) of the Donetsk Coal Field, with the Ukrainian Alternative Fuels Center acting as our counterpart. The Donbass Colliery went into production in 1980 and represents the most advanced and powerful underground mining operation in the Donetsk Coal Field. The Colliery has a workforce of 5,000 employees and has a production capacity of 2.1 million tons of coal a year. In recent years, it has maintained an output level of 1.2- 1.4 million ton. Efforts designed to reduce the volume of gas breakouts at the coal face have led to the implementation of drilling to drain off gases. The gas recovered from the drillholes is led to the surface through a pipeline. A certain part of the recovered gas is used as boiler fuel but most of the drained gas is directly released into the atmosphere, with the gas recovery rate (the ratio of recovered gas volume/total breakout volume) being only around 10%. The recovered gas has a low (methane) concentration of only 30%. The reasons why the gas recovery rate and concentration values are so low are due to factors such as the decline in coal production as the result of economic stagnation, the aging of equipment in consequence of a lack of plant investment and the obsolescence of technology. These factors also account for the large number of gas-related accidents in the Donetsk Coal Field. The degradation of the working environment and the fall in production efficiency associated with the lack of equipment and the aging of the mine put serious strains and constraints on Ukrainian mine management. The site study conducted at the Donbass Colliery gave an insight into the situation faced by the mine in terms of the underground and surface recovery of mine gases and the state of gas-using equipment and related conditions. While mine gas recovery with drilling is taking place underground the main reasons why it is not possible to achieve adequate boring efficiency are due to the inability to make the necessary drill holes of over 100m length required for longwall mining and the lack of equipment capable of drilling holes of an adequate diameter. A further reason lies in the absence of advanced drilling techniques for drilling holes through the goaf of the overlying seams in the drilling operating carried out while mining the lower