PAPER CODE-40100

IN SEMESTER EVALUATION

HOME ASSIGNMENT
ON
A. GENERATION OF COAL BED METHANE
B. COAL FORMING EPOCH
C. COAL PETROGRAPHY

Submitted by
Nabin Adhikari
[Link] 4th Sem
Department of Applied Geology
Dibrugarh University
 A. GENERATION OF COAL BED METHANE

Methane is always associated with coal as by-product of coal forming process. The amount of associated
methane is a function of coal rank and depth. At greater depth, increased pressure hold gas from
escape . Once, the methane trapped in coal beds is considered as hazard. But now it is considered as an
unconventional source of energy and technologies are now available to recover the trapped methane
prior to and after from coal beds prior to and after mining through drilling bore holes. It is an
unconventional resource as the methane is contained in the coal and does not migrate to other rock
strata.

GENERATION OF CBM:

The process by which plant material is progressively altered through peat, ignite, sub-bituminous,
bituminous to anthracite coal is termed as coalification. As the organic material altered through the
effects of temperature-pressure, both physical and chemical changes takes place.

CBM is generated in two ways- a) during the early stages of coalification at temperature below
50°C. This is biogenetic methane and is formed by the decomposition of the organic material and where
biological activity induces reducing condition that remove O2 and sulphate.

The main phase of CBM generation in coals begins in the range of medium volatile bituminous
coal by means of catagenesis where organic materials are altered as a result of the effect of increasing
temperature. CBM generated at temperature above 50°C is referred to as Thermogenic CH4. During
coalification more than twice as much CO2 as CH4 is generated up to the high volatile bituminous coal
boundary.

The two gases associated with CBM are C02 and N2. N2 is found as a minor constituent of
thermogenic gas due to its small molecular size. In contrast to the large amount of CH4 generated the
potential of coals to produce higher HC is limited. The generated potential of coal in this respects limits
to type 3 kerogen, which yields mainly gas but may generate commercial oil accumulation depending on
the liptinite content.

During burial of sediments ,the increase temperature results in a progressive rearrangement

of kerogen. During the last part of diagenesis CO2, water and some heavy N2, SO2 compounds are
released. In terms of petroleum exploration source rocks are considered as immature at this stage.
 During catagenesis, HC chains and cycles are eliminated. Thus, first mainly crude oils and then
gas are successively formed. During metagenesis , only dry gas are generated. The amount and
composition of HC present in source rock change progressively as a function of increasing evolution.

During diagenesis molecules of biological origin predominant whereas during catagenesis the
medium to low molecular weight HC become predominant. When metagenesis is reached, CH4
practically the only remaining HC. Biogenic CH4 is only generated at low temperature levels and pure
biogenic gas does not contain higher HC in appropriate proportion.
 [Link] FORMING EPOCH

INTRODUCTION
The geological history of the Earth is divided into several epochs. One of these is called the
Carboniferous. The Carboniferous is an epoch in the Geological record, which lasted from 359,2
± 2,5 tot 299,0 ± 0,8 millon years ago. The Carboniferous is part of the Paleozoïc. It is precede
by the Devonian epoch, and followed by the [Link] the Carboniferous, the formation of
the supercontinent Pangea came to an end. The drift of the continents towards each other had
started already much earlier. The sealevel was relatively high, and large parts of modern Europe
were covered by swamps and marshes. In these swamps the plant remains were stored which
form nowadays a large part of the coal deposits on Earth. Many new species of insects,
amphibious creatures, and seed bearing plants appeared. In India, coal deposits are of two
distinct geological ages, Permian and Tertiary. Here the following table indicates the major
geological time distribution of coal –
Temporal distribution of Coal

Coal distribution through geologic time ranges from Late Devonian(about 380Mya) to
Pliocene (about 3 Mya) for a duration of about 375 [Link] coal occurrence through
thegeologic time is not continuous but rather episodic and culminated by significant
massextinctions of plant and animal life,which created from marked tovery minor coal hiatus at

the Permian-Triassic and Cretacious-Tertiary boundaries. Coal accumulations were

influenced by the appearance,evolution,dispersion and ecological adaptation terrestrial plants in
ancestral [Link] plants first colonized the landscape specially wetlands in the Late
Paleozoic era during the Devonian period as smaller vascular (e.g water transport tubes),tree like
plants,which became increasingly diversified,evolved and exploded into tall woody,vascular
plants(*e.g Angiosperms) in the carboniferous peaty wetlands. During the succeeding Mesozoic
era particularly in the Jurassic and Cretacious periods,forest vegetation (e.g conifers) became re-
established ,flourished and became totally different from those of the Permian and carboniferous
[Link] importantly the cretaceous period was characterized by the sudden appearance
and proliferation of flowering plants and leafy trees,which along with conifers and ferns
dominated the vegetation of peaty wetlands in coastal and lowlying continenetal [Link] end of
the cretaceous-Tertiary boundary event was marked by the mass extinction of plant and animal
life. The most favorable conditions for the formation of coal occurred 360 million to 290 million
years ago, during the Carboniferous (“coal-bearing”) Period. However, lesser amounts continued
to form in some parts of the Earth during all subsequent periods, in particular the
Permian (290 million to 250 million years ago), and throughout the Mesozoic Era (250
million to 65 million years ago).

The accumulated plant matter buried during the Tertiary Era — less than 65 million years ago —
is generally less mature. It is often in the form of lignite, which still contains a high content of
volatile matter (bitumen and decayed wood) and has a lower carbon content. However, there is
also some higher rank coal from the Tertiary Era, coal that matured early, heated by plate
tectonics. Examples of this include Paleocene coal (65 to 55 million years ago), found in
Columbia and Venezuela, and Miocene coal (20 million years ago), found in Indonesia. In
Indonesia, where the geothermal gradient is very high, anthracite lies close to the surface.
Finally, recent accumulations (from 10,000 years ago to today) are very rich in fibrous debris
known as peat, in which the shapes of branches and roots can still be discerned. This material
was not buried deep enough to contain elemental carbon.

Conclusion
Although terrestrial plants dominated the Late Palaeozoic,Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras ,the
remains of which produced organic matter for coal formation.,only the carboniferous
system(e.g Pennsylvannian period), and Permian period of the Palaeozoic era,Jjurassic and
Cretacious periods of Mesozoic Era ,and Tertiary periods of Cenozoic era contained significant
coal deposits of the world.
 C. COAL PETROGRAPHY

Introduction:
In different geographical regions during Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic times, the
vegetation provided unique ranges of plant organs (roots, stems, branches, leaves, fruits,
flowers, pollens and spores) and plant tissues, all of which possessed different physical
structures and chemical composition. These decomposed to varying degrees during the process
of peatification, i.e. the biochemical conversion of plant material by anaerobic or aerobic
bacterial action which occurs in different ways subject to the sedimentary, climatic and
geochemical conditions at the time of peat accumulation. It is the fossilised remains of these
original plants that comprise the final organic fragments found in coal. Known as macerals, they
are defined as the small, microscopically identifiable units of altered organic plant remains seen
under the petrographic microscope. Collectively, they give rise to the type of coal seen
macroscopically (observable to the naked eye), namely the bright, dull and banded layers or
lithotypes in coal seams. Associated with the organic matter (macerals) is a variety of minerals
of different types, in various forms and in different degrees of association. The association of
macerals and minerals in microscopic bands (>50 μm) within a coal seam comprise the
microscopically defined bands called microlithotypes found in coal.

Maceral names have the ‘-inite’ suffi x (e.g. vitrinite), whereas microlithotypes have the ‘-ite’
suffix (e.g. vitrite). Lithotypes have the ‘-ain’ suffi x (e.g. vitrain). Coal petrography is the
technique used to identify, examine, classify and apply the information obtained from a
microscopic study of these entities in coal.
Macerals:

The organic fragments in coal have been classified into three groups based on major
characteristics pertaining to each group. These are the vitrinite maceral group, the inertinite
maceral group and the liptinite maceral group. Each is subdivided into further macerals and
sub-macerals.

woody tissue (bark, cortex and xylem) falling into anaerobic water-logged conditions, such as
prevailed over much of the hot equatorial swamps of Laurasia, over time becomes gelified,
thereby trapping in the protoplasmic contents of the cells and softening the tough lignitic or
cellulosic cell walls. Humic gels and humic acids are leached out and precipitated in layers
alongside the gelifying woody materials (logs, branches, twigs and roots) or in the empty cells
of woody tissues. In time, with the pressure of burden due to burial by overlying sediments or
depth through mountain-building movements with faulting or graben structures, the gelified
matter becomes compressed. In so doing, it loses moisture and volatiles, and ultimately
hardens into the bright shiny bands seen in the bituminous and anthracitic coals of today. The
process of gelification or vitrinitisation (derived from an original French word meaning ‘to
gelify’) gave rise to the term vitrinite in bituminous or anthracitic coals, i.e. in the hard coal
range of rank. In lignites, between peat and the hard coal range, similar gelified materials are
included in the huminite group of macerals.

The vitrinite maceral group is grey in colour with a reflectance generally between that of
associated darker liptinites and lighter inertinites over the range of rank in which the three
respective macerals can be readily recognised. The group includes three subgroups and six
macerals derived from different humic materials and their varying pathways of transformation
within the early peats.
Table: Macerals within the vitrinite group in bituminous and anthracite coals
The chemical structure of vitrinite, in simple terms, is moderately aromatic with significant
aliphatic chains in the bituminous range of rank. In comparison, inertinite is more structurally
ordered and aromatic while liptinite is predominantly aliphatic. On heating vitrinite, volatile
matter derived from the breakdown of the aliphatic chains is released relatively easily, and the
remaining aromatic carbon-rich molecular structure softens, swells and becomes porous to
varying degrees, subject to the level of rank of the coal. Plant material which accumulates in
drier environments with exposure to varying levels of aerobic conditions produces a variety of
different organic fragments. Under these conditions, desiccation (drying out) and oxidation
takes place, plant tissues are attacked by microbial fungi and bacteria tovarying degrees, and
some plant material may have been subjected to fi re. If taken to extremes, such conditions
lead to the complete destruction of content within the cell tissues, thereby leaving the most
resistant, tough, fibrous outer cell wall material, namely lignin and cellulose, for burial in the
accumulating peat swamp. In general, this maceral group is dense and structurally disordered,
with tightly bonded aromatic carbon molecules and few if any aliphatic chains. As a
consequence, this group produces limited or no volatile matter on heating, thereby rendering it
relatively difficult to ignite and to burn out due to its dense molecular structure. For these
reasons, this maceral group was considered to be inert during combustion and, as such, was
termed ‘inertinite’. Typically, the colour is white with a reflectance lighter than either vitrinite
or liptinite in low to medium rank coals.

A wide range of forms are known in the inertinite maceralgroup . These range from fossil wood
that had been burnt in ancient fi res, resulting in dry, brittle, lightweight particles of porous
strongly cellular fossil charcoal called ‘fusinite’. Under the petrographic microscope this
maceral has a well-preserved cellular structure and appears hard (high relief), highly reflective,
and very bright white to brassy yellow in colour. It occurs in stratified layers in a seam (possibly
the remains of burnt logs, tree trunks and branches) or as broken fragments dispersed within
the coally matrix.
Fibrous organic fragments which display clear fibrous woody cell structure but lower levels of
reflectance than fusinite with colours varying from white to very pale grey and varying degrees
of gelification are termed ‘semifusinite ’. Those semifusinites closer in structure, colour and
reflectance to fusinite have been termed ‘inert semifusinite’, whereas those closer tovitrinite in
terms of semi-gelifi ed structure, greyer colour than fusinite but higher reflectance than
vitrinite (indicating higher volatile matter content in this inertinite group) are termed ‘reactive
semifusinite’. Such materials are particularly prevalent in Gondwana coals, but are relatively
rare in the Laurasian coals.
Inertinite group macerals that have been broken into fragments between 2 and 30 μm in size
are termed inertodetrinite. Subject to their colour and reflectance, these detrital fragments
may be classified as inert or reactive in technological processes, in a manner similar to that
applied to semifusinites. Such inertinite fragments are typically abundant in many Gondwana
coal seams, often comprising the predominant maceral in thick seams or thick bands within
seams, but they are not common in the Laurasiancoalfields. These components are frequently
found intimately associated with fi ne clay or quartz grains and, as such, are believed to have
been removed from their original peat swamps and redeposited with silt and sand elsewhere as
a result of the turbulent movement of water. Known as ‘drift coals’, they may have arisen, for
example, through flooding by rivers bursting their banks following the seasonal melting of snow
in the mountains surrounding the Gondwana coal-forming basins, the latter occurring after the
cessation of the Carboniferous Ice Age in the southern hemisphere.
Also included in the inertinite group of macerals are secretinite (sclerotinite), macrinite and
micrinite. These components share the same white to pale grey colour of the inertinite group
but vary in origin, structure and texture. Micrinite is composed of very small granules of
inertinite (<2 μm or less) found in concentrated lenses in vitrinite or inertinite, as fillings in the
cellular cavities of fi brous woody tissue, or as the matrix in a collection of fragmented particles.
This maceral is considered to be the solid residue of former oily, waxy or bitumen-like material
that originated from liptinitic or hydrogen-rich vitrinitic substances. Macrinite occurs as an
amorphous groundmass or as rounded fragments of discrete structureless bodies greater than
30 μm in size. It is analogous to collinite of the vitrinite group and is considered to have
originated from flocculated humic substances which underwent dehydration and partial
oxidation processes in an early stage during peatifi cation due to temporarily lowered
groundwater levels. Secretinite (previously known as sclerotinite) is composed of round or oval
discrete bodies of fungal or cellular origin with well-preserved botanical structures in the centre
(pores or shrinkage cracks). A summary of the characteristic forms in the inertinite group of
macerals is presented in thetable below:

Part from the fibrous, woody and f eshy tissues of trees and plants which gave rise to the
macerals and maceral groups described above, another part of ancient plants needs to be
considered. Known as the Liptinite group of macerals (previously the exinite group), these
components originate from specialised hydrogen, waxy and oil-rich plant materials. Cutinite
represents the waxy cuticles coating leaves and young shoots while sporinite represents the
external coats (exines) of pollens and spores. This group also includes resin (Resinite) that
exuded from the from the bark of ancientgymnospermous-like trees and algal bodies (Alginite),
which occur eitherin concentrated layers or as discrete bodies within the coally matrix or in
associated shales.

Liptinite macerals have characteristically low reflectances. They are brown to purple in colour in
sub-bituminous and low rank bituminous coals (bituminous C and D) but range from grey to
pale grey in the mid bituminous rank, after which they merge with vitrinite and disappear. The
group is predominantly aliphatic in molecular structure and low in density. On heating, liptinite
components in the bituminous C and D ranks of coal emit high proportions of H-enriched
volatile matter followed by light and heavy hydrocarbons (bitumen, tars and waxes). Once
emitted, little or no solid aromatic carbon remains. The macerals in the liptinite group are listed
in the table below:

Minerals:

Minerals occur in various forms in coal. Minerals that were deposited at the same time as peat
formation are termed syngenetic minerals, whereas those that formed after peat formation
and at any time during coalification are epigenetic minerals. The latter minerals are usually
derived from groundwater passing through cracks and fissures in the hardening or hardened
coal seams. When saturated, the ions and elements in the ground water precipitate out and
minerals form, taking the shape of the cracks or fissures in which, they are deposited. Similarly,
water passing through the xylem, phloem or cortical cells (supportive and ‘feeding’ cellular
tissue) in ancient tree trunks also led to the precipitation of minerals in those cellular cavities,
thereby ‘locking’ the minerals into those cell structures.

For practical purposes minerals may also be described as inherent, included or excluded.
Inherent refers to minerals or elements bound to the organic cellular structure in coal (this
includes trace elements which may have been taken up by the plant during growth and
adsorbed into the plant’s tissues). Included mineral matter is that which forms a discrete
mineral grain within the coally matrix, for example mineral grains of quartz and clay embedded
in bands of vitrinite or inertinite in the manner of currants within a bun. Excluded mineral
matter is that which is external to the coal or coal seam, namely particles of sandstone or shale
which may have been derived from roof or floor rocks above or below the coal seam or from
rock partings within the coal seam. W ithin coal, the form in which mineral matter is found
varies from extensive mineralised layers precipitated within the organic matrix to nodules,
smaller grains, tiny crystals, fissure fillings, cell cavity fillings, or rock fragments which may be
finely distributed throughout the coally matrix. Within the syngenetic mineral category, those
forms washed by water or wind blown into the peat swamp are predominantly clays and quartz
and to a lesser extent feldspar, apatite, muscovite and related minerals. Those forms that
precipitated in situ from colloidal, chemical and biochemical processes include pyrite,
carbonate minerals and colloidal clays. Both groups are found intimately embedded within the
organic matrix and are generally difficult to liberate during beneficiation. The epigenetic
minerals that were precipitated during the later stages of coalification are generally found
either in cleats and fissures or intruding into and disrupting the original layers of organic
material. These include carbonate minerals (calcite, dolomite, ankerite, siderite), pyrite,
marcasite and some clays. These may be coarsely crystalline or in the shape of nodules; in some
cases, minerals have been found to replace, transform or encapsulate older minerals.
Carbonates that precipitate out in the cellular cavities of old tree trunks lying horizontally in
peat have been found to be the hardest products known in coal. Called ‘hard fusite’ and
comprising the fibrous cell walls (fusite) with calcite- or dolomite-filled cell cavities, such coally
lithotypes have been found to wear mining picks away at extremely fast rates and be totally
resistant to breakage in mills.

Lithotypes:

In some cases, ancient peat-forming plant assemblages grew and died in situ, accumulating
vegetation in the same swamp over time, fluctuating only in water level and geochemical
environment over that time. Known as ‘autochthonous’ or in situ coals, these exhibits banded
or stratified layers of vitrinite-rich, inertinite-rich or mixed organic matter contents. In hand
specimen, these coals exhibit either bright (vitrinite-rich or vitrain) or dull (inertinite-rich or
durain ) bands or, in the case of multiple alternating narrow lenses of vitrinite and inertinite-
rich layers, mixed banded coals. Known as lithotypes , the description ‘bright, dull or
banded’ is a reflection of smaller microscopic bands of associated macerals and minerals. The
latter are known as microlithotypes, and are defined in 50 μm bands of thickness.

Under conditions where developing peat swamps have been disrupted and broken up, either by
flooding rivers, melting snows or incursions of the sea, the fragmented organic materials and
accompanying minerals are carried in suspension to different locations and redeposited in the
process of sedimentation in a manner similar to a river carrying sediments of sand and silt,
which are deposited when the river meets a larger body of water. Suspended materials sink to
the bottom, heaviest first, lightest last. In this manner, larger organic fragments and mineral
grains are deposited before finer fragments in such a body of water. Coals formed in this
manner are known as ‘allochthanous’ or drift coals, i.e. the fragmented materials have been
removed, transported and deposited in a location different from their origin and have
accumulated there to form the seam that is seen today. Under these conditions, a considerable
quantity of sand or silt (fi ne clay) may accompany such organic accumulations.

Subject to the type of sediment deposited, a further wide range of coals leading to
sedimentary rock types may form. Such sediments are typically massive, exhibiting little or no
banding in their lithotypes. Subject to the quantity of organic matter relative to mineral matter
in the mixture, a number of different ‘coally’ sediments may be classifi ed. If the layer contains
more maceral than mineral content, i.e. <50% by mass of ash ad, the deposit would be
classified as a coal and categorised into different grades subject to ash content i.e. from low-
ash (<10% ash) to high-ash (30–50% ash) categories of coal.

If, however, the inorganic mineral matter is more prolific in the mix than the organic matter,
then, subject to the nature, size and content of mineralscontained in the rocks, they may be
termed dark grey to black carbonaceous shales, mudstones or siltstones, the degree of colour
indicating the amount of organic matter associated within them. In some coal sequences, as for
example the Coal Zones in some the Upper Permian Gondwana coalfields, rocks of this kind
grade frequently from mineral-rich coally sediments such as siltstones and shales into true coal
seams and vice versa over very short vertical distances (millimetres and centimetres). Known
colloquially as ‘ bar-code ’ coals (due to their similarity to bar codes in retail stores), these
seams are difficult to sample, analyse and evaluate for marketing purposes. Sampled too widely
(incorporating multiple bands), the samples would be categorised as ‘rocks’, given average ash
contents of well over 50% ad, but sampled in narrow bands, they are categorised as low to
medium ash coals alternating with interbedded carbonaceous shales. It is these complex coally
sediments with overall ash contents in excess of 50% that are included in the resources of some
coal mines in a number of Gondwana countries. The run-of-mine coals from such seams are
washed in various beneficiation processes to yield 12–15% of low-ash coals for high-value
markets, a moderate yield of ‘middlings’ products with coals of 35–45% ash on average
(including some 60–70% ash products) which are sent to local power stations, and a high yield
of very high-ash material which is discarded. This is in stark contrast to the low-ash products
produced from the typically low-ash, thick, vitrinite-rich bright seams encountered in many
coalfields in the USA and EU (Germany, UK, and Russia).

n areas of relatively wide open water within a coal-swamp, other coally sediments containing
macerals and minerals are laid down in the coal-to-sediment continuum. Pollens and spores
and leaves that fall during autumn seasons are blown by wind and carried by water into that
environment. Where stagnant conditions prevail, algal communities flourish, some of which
die, sinking to the bottom to lie amongst the pollens, spores, leaves and fi ne clay or silt-rich
sediments. When found in sufficient quantities, such liptinitic-rich sediments are known as
sapropelic coals (deeper water coals). Due to the high ash content of such sediments, they are
often overlooked in geological borehole core assessments but, if analysed, they may be found
to yield high volatile matter content and valuable oily, waxy and bituminouslike substances,
their primary drawback being the relatively high ash content. In some seams, bands of such
sapropelic coals are sufficiently thick and organic-rich to warrant extraction for commercial
coal-to-liquid purposes. The high volatile matter content and ease of ignition of such coals
would explain the conundrum encountered in some mines where it is claimed that the ‘shales
or mudstones’ exhibit faster rates of self-heating leading to spontaneous combustion than the
associated coals themselves.
Where the spores, pollens and leaf cuticles concentrate in such sapropelic coals, these are
specifically known as cannel coals, whereas those specificallyenriched in algal matter are
termed boghead coals. The inclusion of marine organisms leads to the development of oil
shales in the natural sedimentary continuum. The massive nature of the open water
sapropeliccoally sediments is in stark contrast to that found in coals accumulating on or close to
land which supports terrestrial plants, namely, humic coals. Humic coals are generally stratifi
ed with bright bands (vitrinite-rich), often alternating with, or grading into, dull bands. Where
bright and dull bands alternate rapidly in narrow layers they are known as banded coals.
Sapropelic coals have a characteristic satin lustre, brown streak, and a specific form of breakage
(conchoidal, in a circular or curved manner).

Microlithotypes:

Where organic and inorganic constituents of coal combine in various associations to form
microscopic layers or bands, these are termed microlithotypes. By definition, these are
greater than 50 μm in width. When such microlithotypes are enriched (>95%) in a single
maceral group, they are considered to be a monomaceralmicrolithotype. Mixed associations
of macerals with more than 5% of two maceral groups would be termed a
bimaceralmicrolithotype, and if all three macerals are present, this would be termed a
trimaceralmicrolithotype. The names are linked to the macerals contained in them. For
example, a vitrinite-dominated microscopic band or microlithotype is termed vitrite, whereas
an inertinite-rich band is entitled inertite. If bands contain two macerals greater than 5%, the
microlithotype would be named according to the most common form present, e.g. vitrinertite
(vitrinite more common) or inertovitrite (inertinite more common). Where
inertodetriniteparticles dominate the band, the microlithotype would be termed inertodetrite .
Where all three macerals are present in proportions greater than 5%, the band would be
termed trimacerite . In cases where minerals are present in significant quantities (e.g. between
25% and 50% by volume for quartz, clays and carbonates, and 5–20% for pyrite), the
microlithotype term is carbominerite, and if over 50% mineral matter is present, the term is
minerite (i.e. rock in the form of carbonaceous shale, mudstone, siltstone or sandstone). The
microlithotype classification is listed in thetable below: