Coal Geology Coal Geology Second Edition Larry Thomas DargoAssociatesLtd A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication Thiseditionfirstpublished2013©2013byJohnWiley&Sons,Ltd Wiley-BlackwellisanimprintofJohnWiley&Sons,formedbythemergerofWiley’sglobalScientific, TechnicalandMedicalbusinesswithBlackwellPublishing. Registeredoffice:JohnWiley&Sons,Ltd,TheAtrium,SouthernGate,Chichester,WestSussex,PO19 8SQ,UK Editorialoffices:9600GarsingtonRoad,Oxford,OX42DQ,UK TheAtrium,SouthernGate,Chichester,WestSussex,PO198SQ,UK 111RiverStreet,Hoboken,NJ07030-5774,USA For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell Therightoftheauthortobeidentifiedastheauthorofthisworkhasbeenassertedinaccordancewith theUKCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988. All rights reserved. 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Typesetin9.25/11.5ptMinionbyLaserwordsPrivateLimited,Chennai,India FirstImpression2013 Contents PrefaceToFirstEdition,ix Preface,xi 1 Preview,1 1.1 Scope,1 1.2 Coalgeology,1 1.3 Coaluse,1 1.4 Background,2 2 OriginofCoal,3 2.1 Introduction,3 2.2 Sedimentationofcoalandcoal-bearingsequences,3 2.3 Structuraleffectsoncoal,33 3 AgeandOccurrenceofCoal,53 3.1 Introduction,53 3.2 Platetectonics,53 3.3 Stratigraphy,54 3.4 Ageandgeographicaldistributionofcoal,58 4 CoalasaSubstance,87 4.1 Physicaldescriptionofcoal,87 4.2 Coalification(rank),103 4.3 Coalquality,111 4.4 Classificationofcoals,125 5 CoalSamplingandAnalysis,137 5.1 Coalsampling,137 5.2 Insitusampling,137 5.3 Exsitusampling,142 5.4 Coalanalysis,145 6 CoalExplorationandDataCollection,151 6.1 Introduction,151 6.2 Fieldtechniques,151 6.3 Drilling,165 6.4 Geotechnicalproperties,173 6.5 Computerapplications,178 7 CoalResourcesandReserves,185 7.1 Introduction,185 7.2 Classificationofcoalresourcesandreserves,185 7.3 Reportingofresourcesandreserves,198 7.4 Worldcoalreservesandproduction,205 v vi Contents 8 GeophysicsofCoal,211 8.1 Introduction,211 8.2 Physicalpropertiesofcoal-bearingsequences,211 8.3 Surfacegeophysicalmethods,213 8.4 Undergroundgeophysicalmethods,231 8.5 Geophysicalboreholelogging,233 9 HydrogeologyofCoal,253 9.1 Introduction,253 9.2 Thenatureofgroundwaterandsurfaceflow,253 9.3 Hydrogeologicalcharacteristicsofcoals andcoal-bearingsequences,255 9.4 Collectionandhandlingofhydrogeologicaldata,258 9.5 Groundwaterinflowsinmines,259 9.6 Groundwaterrebound,269 10 GeologyandCoalMining,271 10.1 Introduction,271 10.2 Undergroundmining,271 10.3 Surfacemining,287 11 CoalasanAlternativeEnergySource,303 11.1 Introduction,303 11.2 Gasincoal,303 11.3 Undergroundcoalgasification(UCG),322 11.4 Coalasaliquidfuel,330 11.5 Coalasanoil-pronesourcerock,332 12 CoalUseandtheEnvironment,339 12.1 Introduction,339 12.2 Coalmining,339 12.3 Coaluse,354 12.4 Health,362 12.5 Carboncaptureandstorage(CCS),363 12.6 Environmentalregulations,364 12.7 Futureimplications,368 13 CoalMarketing,369 13.1 Introduction,369 13.2 Coalquality,369 13.3 Transportation,371 13.4 Coalcontracts,379 13.5 Coalpriceandindexing,381 References,385 Appendix1 ListofInternationalandNationalStandardsused inCoalandCokeAnalysisandEvaluation,399 Appendix2 TablesofTrueandApparentDip,SlopeAngles, GradientsandPerCentSlope,415 Appendix3 CalorificValuesExpressedinDifferentUnits,417 Contents vii Appendix4 Unitsofmeasurement,421 Appendix5 MethaneUnitsConverter,423 Glossary,425 Index,431 Preface The first edition of Coal Geology has provided the coal Appendix1,havebeenupdatedandexpandedtoinclude geologist and those associated with the coal industry P.R.China,IndiaandRussia. with the background to the origins and characteristics Iwouldliketothankallthosecolleaguesandfriends of coal together with exploration techniques including who have helped and encouraged me with the second geophysics and hydrogeology. Details of coal mining edition. In particular, special thanks are due to Steve techniques,resourcecalculations,alternativeusesofcoal Frankland of Dargo Associates Ltd, Rob Evans for his andenvironmentalissueswerealsodescribed. invaluablehelpwithcoalgeophysics,PaulAhnerinthe Although broadly following the layout of the first USAforprovidingdataonundergroundcoalgasification, edition, additional information has been added to coal andtothefollowingfortheircontributionsandsupport: origins,geographicaldistributionofcoalandcoalexplo- ProfessorVladimirPavlovicofBelgradeUniversity,Mike ration. The chapter on coal resources and reserves has Coultas, Dave Pearson of Pearson Coal Petrography, been brought up to date with current resource classifi- OracleCoalfieldsplcandRobertsonGeologging,aswell cations together with recent world reserves/production asthestaffatJohnWiley&Sons,Ltd. figures. The chapter on geophysics of coal has been I also thank those authors and organisations whose enlarged and the alternative uses of coal, in particular, permissiontoreproducetheirworkisgratefullyacknowl- methane extraction and underground coal gasification edged. have been expanded to reflect the increase in activity Finally I would like to thank my wife Sue for her intheseareas.Developmentsinenvironmentalrequire- support,forbearanceandassistancewiththemanuscript. mentshavealsobeenupdated. Again, numerous sources of information have been LarryThomas consulted,themajorityofwhicharelistedinthebibliog- DargoAssociatesLtd raphy.InternationalStandardsrelatingtocoal,listedin ix Preface To First Edition TheHandbookofPracticalCoalGeology(Thomas1992) Also covered is the development of computer tech- was intended as a basic guide for coal geologists to use nologyinthegeologicalandminingfields,andthefinal intheireverydayduties,whetheronsite,intheofficeor chapterisacondensedaccountofthemarketingofcoal, instructingothers.Itwasnotintendedasadefinitivework itsuses,transportationandprice. onalloranyparticularaspectofcoalgeology,ratheras Manysourcesofinformationhavebeenconsulted,the a handbook to use as a precursor to, or in conjunction majorityofwhicharelistedinthereferencesection.Aset with,morespecificanddetailedworks. ofappendicescontainsinformationofusetothereader. This new volume is designed to give both the coal Iwouldliketothankallthosecolleaguesandfriends geologist and others associated with the coal industry who have helped and encouraged me with the book background information regarding the chemical and from conception to completion. In particular special physical properties of coal, its likely origins, its clas- thanksareduetoSteveandGhislaineFranklandofDargo sification and current terminology. In addition I have Associates Ltd, Alan Oakes, Rob Evans, Dr Keith Ball, highlighted the currently known geographical distribu- ProfessorBrianWilliams,MikeCoultas,ReevesOilfield tion of coal deposits together with recent estimates of Services, IMC Geophysics Ltd, Datamine International worldresourcesandproduction.Ihavealsooutlinedthe and Palladian Publications, as well as the staff at John exploration techniques employed in the search for, and Wiley&SonsLtd. development of, these coal deposits and the geophys- I should also like to thank those authors and organ- ical and hydrogeological characteristics of coal-bearing isations whose permission to reproduce their work is sequences,togetherwiththecalculationandcategorisa- gratefullyacknowledged. tionofresources/reserves. FinallyIwouldliketothankmywifeSueandmyfamily Chaptersaredevotedtotheminingofcoal,tothemeans fortheirsupport,encouragementandassistancewiththe ofextractingenergyfromcoalotherthanbyconventional manuscript. mining techniques, and to the environmental concerns associatedwiththeminingandutilisationofcoal. LarryThomas DargoAssociatesLtd xi (d) (b) (c) (h) (f) (g) (a) (i) (l) (e) (k) (j) Figure2.8 LatePalaeozoicmacrofossilassemblages,WeibeiCoalfield,China.(a)CalamitescistiiBrongniart.UpperShihhotse Formation.(b)Calamitescf.SchutzeiformisLongmans.UpperShihhotseFormation.(c)Lepidodendrontienii(Lee).Taiyuan Formation.(d)Lepidodendronoculus-felisAbb.LowerShihhotseFormation.(e)Cathaysiodendronacutangulum(Halle).Upper ShihhotseFormation.(f)CathaysiodendronnanpiaoenseLee.TaiyuanFormation.(gandh)LepidodendronposthumiiJongmanset Gothan.ShanxiFormation.(i)SphenophyllumthoniiMahr.ShanxiFormation.(j)Sphenophyllumspeciosum(Royle).Upper ShihhotseFormation.(k)Sphenophyllumcf.sinenseZhangetShen.UpperShihhotseFormation.(l)Sphenophyllumemarginatum Brongniart.LowerShihhotseFormation.Wang(2010).Reproducedwithpermission,ElsevierPublications. CoalGeology,SecondEdition.LarryThomas. ©2013JohnWiley&Sons,Ltd.Published2013byJohnWiley&Sons,Ltd. (a) (b) (c) (d) (f) (e) Figure2.9 SelectedmegasporesfromtheLowBarnsleySeam.(a)Lageniculasubpilosa(Ibrahim)Potonie&Kremp×50, (b)Setosisporiteshirsutus(Loose)Ibrahim×50,(c)Zonalesporitesbrasserti(Stach&Zerndt)Potonie&Kremp×25, (d)Cystosporitesvarius(Wicher)Dijkstra×50,(e)Zonalesporitesrotates(Bartlett)Spinner×50,(f)Tuberculatisporitesmamillarius (Bartlett)Potonie&Kremp×25.(Bartram1897)PermissionoftheGeologicalSociety.