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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

LLL in situ coal gasification program. Quarterly progress report, July--September 1976

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:7318772

Planning and field work continued for Phase 2 of Hoe Creek Experiment No. 1. Drilling and well completions were finished, the surface plant and test instrumentation were completed for hydraulic testing and dewatering, and hydraulic permeability tests were made. The four cores taken at locations 6 to 9 ft from shot sites were found to be similar in appearance, with moderate to heavy fracturing in the upper few feet of coal, followed by a less fractured zone, and then by a heavily fractured zone in the bottom 5 to 10 ft. The core between the two explosives locations showed the most fracturing, the core farthest away from either shot point exhibited the least fracturing. Improving agreement between the degree of fracturing and TENSOR and SOC code calculations is building confidence in the ability to predict extent of fracturing. A review of flow behavior before and after explosive fracturing in upper and lower portions of the coal during drilling and earlier well tests leads to the interpretation that native coal is reasonably homogeneous vertically, but that post-explosion flow conditions are not uniform. While cracks created by the explosion may promote high flows in the upper regions, fines generated by the explosions tend to restrict or plug flow in the lower regions.

Research Organization:
California Univ., Livermore (USA). Lawrence Livermore Lab.
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
7318772
Report Number(s):
UCRL-50026-76-3
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English