Geology of the Hanna Formation, Hanna Underground Coal Gasification Site, Hanna, Wyoming

Abstract

The Hanna Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) study area consists of the SW1/4 of Section 29 and the E1/2SE1/4 of Section 30 in Township 22 North, Range 81 West, Wyoming. Regionally, this is located in the coal-bearing Hanna Syncline of the Hanna Basin in southeast Wyoming. The structure of the site is characterized by beds dipping gently to the northeast. An east-west fault graben complex interrupts this basic trend in the center of the area. The target coal bed of the UCG experiments was the Hanna No. 1 coal in the Hanna Formation. Sedimentary rocks comprising the Hanna Formation consist of a sequence of nonmarine shales, sandstones, coals and conglomerates. The overburden of the Hanna No. 1 coal bed at the Hanna UCG site was divided into four broad local stratigraphic units. Analytical studies were made on overburden and coal samples taken from cores to determine their mineralogical composition. Textural and mineralogical characteristics of sandstones from local stratigraphic units A, B, and C were analyzed and compared. Petrographic analyses were done on the coal including oxides, forms of sulfur, pyrite types, maceral composition, and coal rank. Semi-quantitative spectrographic and analytic geochemical analyses were done on the overburden and coal and relative element concentrations were compared. Trends within each stratigraphic unit were also presented and related to depositional environments. The spectrographic analysis was also done by lithotype. 34 references, 60 figures, 18 tables.