Ground-water effects of underground coal gasification experiments in Northeastern Wyoming

Book · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1979

OSTI ID:7091992

Mead, S W; Wang, F T; Ganow, H C; Stuermer, D H; Stone, R

The Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLL) has carried out two underground coal gasification (UCG) experiments at its Hoe Creek site in Northeastern Wyoming. Environmental studies are being conducted in conjunction with these UCG experiments, including an investigation of changes in local ground-water quality. Such changes are a consequence of the residual reaction products - coal ash, char, some of the coal tars, and roughly 10% of the product gases - which remain underground after gasification. When ground water returns to the gasification zone, leaching and dissolution processes lead to the formation of a plume of contaminated ground water, which begins to move through the coal seam. In addition, fissuring and roof collapse may destroy the integrity of the underground reaction vessel permitting contaminants to escape to the surface or into overlying aquifers. Field investigations include ground-water quality monitoring near the UCG experiments, geotechnical measurements of ground deformations, and post-burn coring. Limited water quality analysis is performed in the field, and more extensive analysis, including GC-MS, is carried out at LLL and US Geological Survey laboratories. The field program is augmented by laboratory measurements and modeling studies. Ground-water quality in wells near the first experiment was monitored for 2 years following gasification. A large number of contaminants were found in wells located up to 100 ft (30 m) from the burn zone, but concentrations have decreased substantially as a result of sorption by the coal. During the second gasification experiment (Hoe Creek II), roof collapse and the inadvertent gasification of an overlying coal seam caused the interconnection of three aquifers, including the two gasified coal seams. We have measured the resulting changes in local hydrology and in the dispersal of reaction-product contaminants.

• OSTI ID: 7091992
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AQUIFERS
AROMATICS
ASHES
BORON
CHARS
CHROMATOGRAPHY
COAL DEPOSITS
COAL GAS
COAL GASIFICATION
COAL SEAMS
COAL TAR
CONDENSED AROMATICS
CONTAMINATION
DATA
DISSOLUTION
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FIELD TESTS
FLUIDS
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
GASES
GASIFICATION
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GROUND WATER
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROLOGY
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
IN-SITU GASIFICATION
IN-SITU PROCESSING
INFORMATION
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
MINERAL RESOURCES
MONITORING
NAPHTHALENE
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHENOLS
POLLUTION
PROCESSING
PYROLYSIS PRODUCTS
RESIDUES
RESOURCES
ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION
SEMIMETALS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SPECTROSCOPY
TAR
TESTING
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
TOLUENE
USA
WATER
WATER CHEMISTRY
WATER POLLUTION
WATER QUALITY
WYOMING
XYLENES