Innovative Approach to the Integrated Use of Energy Resources of Underground Coal Gasification

Abstract

Topical issues concerning the low efficiency of underground coal mining from thin and very thin seams as well as the problems of reserves left in mine fields by the closed-down enterprises resulting in substantial coal reserve losses have been highlighted. Alternative use of the unextracted energy resources is their physical and chemical transformation with the change in aggregate state including the possibility to generate valuable chemical and energy products capable of substituting certain share of natural gas being imported. Attention has been paid to budget reallocation in the process of coal enterprise restructuring to invest the projects of nontraditional techniques aimed at physical and chemical coal transformation; among other things, it concerns in-place construction of energy generating enterprises for underground coal gasification. Results of the studies concerning the analysis of the world 50-year interest in the techniques of gasification and hydrate formation explained and described in the top scientific journals being among those added to such scientometric data bases as Scopus and Web of Science; they confirm the expediency of the scientific tendency development in Ukraine. Innovative conversion scheme for solid fuel has been proposed; the scheme involves the integrated use of the generated energy and chemical products in the process of in-place coal gasification. Development of systems to gasify, cogenerate, and form hydrates at the territory of coal mines will make it possible to process coal in place with energy, heat energy, and chemical raw material generation depending upon the situation in energy market and chemical market.