Analysis of potential energy and environmental impact from coal gasification through simulation of plasma gasification process of Indonesian low-rank coal

Indonesia's coal reserve is abundant with its lower price and widely distributed than oil and natural gas. However, the coal emits high carbon dioxide gas (CO2) and sulfur compounds (H2S, SOx) to the environment during utilization. Plasma gasification can overcome those lacks using the external electric energy through a plasma torch. The chemical properties of coal have impacts on the energy content and environmental benchmarking. Using steam as a gasifying agent should be adequate to produce H2 and CO syngas. A research has been carried out to analyze and understand the benefit of using different gasifying agent for maximizing the H2 production and minimizing the environmental impact. Pure Steam (PS) gasifying agent to coal ratio of 0.4 has shown 43.76% H2 composition in syngas and cold gasification efficiency (CGE) with 37.71%. The PS to coal ratio of 0.2 has a significant carbon conversion efficiency of 4.75% and the PS to coal ratio of 0.6 has a gross energy potential of 86.5 kW. Using such the PS is significantly better than the mixture of steam oxygen (SO) as the gasifying agent since it needs to have a greater SO flow rate to have the SO to coal ratio of 1.00.

Stability study of open mine slopes at pit 22 GN PT Kitadin Site Embalut, Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Kalimantan Province

The stability of slope, both on the slope of work and the final slope, is a very important aspect of slope stability, both on the slope of work and the final slope in open pit mining activities. The inconsistency of the slopes will result in the collapse of rocks around the excavation site. This happens because the condition of the rock when it has not been excavated is generally balanced. However, due to the discontinuous patterns that occur other than naturally and also due to the mining activities such as excavation, blasting and others, cause a reduction in the retaining force of the rock on the slope results in the equilibrium of the force tends to shift and is not balanced. Study of the stability of the open pit highwall slope at PIT 22 GN PT Kitadin Site Embalut, Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Kalimantan Province was carried out with the aim to know the rock characteristics, to calculate slope geometry stable safety factors, and to recognize the type of landslide using a bishop method. The results of the modeling consist of several heights and slopes, as well as angles that is formed. Section AA’ has a safety factor value of 1.387, section BB has a safety factor of 1.482, section BB' has a safety factor value of 1.390, section DD' has a safety factor value of 1.318, section EE has a safety factor value of 2,381, section FF' has a safety factor value of 2.426, section GG' has a safety factor value of 2.424, section HH 'has a safety factor value of 2.339.

Shallow seismic reflection survey for imaging deep-seated coal layer - Case study from Muara Enim coal

Indonesia has a great potential for deep-seated coal resources. To assist and support the deep-seated coal exploration, a shallow seismic reflection method is applicable for this purpose. This study has conducted a shallow seismic reflection method in Musi Banyuasin Regency, South Sumatera Province. The Muara Enim coal target varies from 100 to 500 meters from the surface. The thickness of the coal layer varies from 2 to 10.65 meters. This study uses 48 channels with 14 Hz single geophone and MiniSosie as the energy source. The receiver and source interval is 15 meters. This study uses a fixed receiver and moving source configuration. From the interpreted seismic section, this study identified a deep-seated coal layer target. These layers are Mangus, Burung, Benuang, Kebon and Benakat layers. A simple interpretation is analyzed by combining the seismic amplitude characteristics and the thickness of the coal layer from the borehole data. From the interpreted seismic section, deep-seated coal layer targets have strong amplitude characteristics and are continuous from southwest to the northeast with a down-dip of around 20-30°. This study helps to inform the operator companies who develop the utilization of deep-seated coal (coalbed methane, underground coal gasification and underground coal mining) about the effective and proper geophysical method for imaging deep-seated coal layer.

Application of magnetic and induced polarization method for delineating gold-bearing vein zones at Cibaliung, Pandeglang Regency, Banten

Magmatic processes occurred during the Miocene period caused the formation of epithermal gold deposits in Cibaliung area. The deposit has previously been investigated through geological surveys which basically only covers the surface aspect, so in this study a subsurface analysis was carried out through magnetic and IP surveys to determine the distribution and continuity of the gold deposits. The magnetic survey was conducted over an area of about 3 km2 with sampling interval 20 m east and 100 m north. The magnetic data were processed using Oasis Montaj with magnetic intensity map as an output, which was then interpreted to determine the presence of structures and magnetite destruction zones as mineralization clues. The IP survey was conducted on 20 east-west oriented lines with length of about 1.2 km. The electrode configuration used is Wenner with 25 m spacing. IP data were processed using RES2DINV software to eliminate bad datum points and invert the apparent chargeability values into the true ones. IP data are then interpreted to clearly determine the position, direction, and distribution of gold mineralization body by detecting the presence of sulfide minerals as ligands carrying gold. Magnetic data analysis shows that gold mineralization tends to occur at low magnetic anomaly, ranging from 37 nT to 240 nT and generally associated with northwest-oriented structures. The mineralization zone is found in four main vein zones with resistivity and chargeability values < 51 Ωm and > 50 ms.

Lithogeochemical exploration for delineating primary gold occurrences in West Kao area, North Halmahera District, North Maluku Province

Halmahera Island retains several gold deposits. One of the gold deposits is called as low sulphidation epithermal (LSE) quartz veins which is currently being mined and is situated in the Gosowong goldfield. The veins mostly originated in N-S and NNE-SSW direction. This study is aimed to determine the prospect area in the northern portion of Gosowong goldfield covering the West Kao sub district based on surface mapping and rock/float- and BLEG stream sediment survey. A total of 16 rock/vein float and 120 BLEG samples were analyzed by FA/AAS and CNO2 cyanide leach methods, respectively. The study area is occupied by tuffaceous sandstone, andesite, porphyritic andesite and lava andesite units. In the eastern part, tuffaceous sandstone is suffered from argillic and propylitic alteration, which may be controlled by the NW-SE-trending structures. The gold grade of rock/float samples is up to 0.044 ppm. BLEG data indicates a calculated threshold of 10 ppb for Au and 72 ppb for Ag. The highest Au and Ag contents (anomalies) are identified in the eastern part of the study area. This is spatially (and maybe genetically) related to the argillic-altered tuffaceous sandstone, structures and occurrences of quartz vein floats. To follow up this finding, a detailed exploration is recommended to be conducted within the prospect area.

Subsidence and heat propagation modeling on the underground coal gasification (Case study at Muara Enim Formation, South Sumatera)

One of the important issues to study underground coal gasification (UCG) is the prediction of surface subsidence. Several parameters that influence these conditions are the thickness of cap rock, the physical and mechanical characteristics, the structure condition, the minerals composition of the rock, and external conditions. This study had been carried out simulation and modeling to determine the level of surface subsidence risk and the effect of high temperatures due to the activities. The modeling results show that the thickness of the rock above the UCG coal seam greatly affects the surface subsidence. The depth is more than 200 m and found that the SF value is 1.59 which indicates UCG reactor depth of ≥ 200 m is safe from the risk of subsidence. From the characteristic aspect of the cap rock, the claystone types which not contain kaolinite minerals are more prone to collapse than those of contain kaolinite minerals. From this models, the gasifier at 150 m depth was estimated that there will be a decline of -7.23 m, and the minimum subsidence is at 275 m about 0.1 m. The heat propagation modeling results show that at 50 m the temperature is estimated to be 213- 289°C, but if the thickness of the cap rock is > 200 m depth, the temperature is around 29-28°C.

The influence of steam drying process on combustion behavior of Indonesian low-rank coals

Steam drying process of the Low Rank Coals (LRCs) has been conducted to produce coal which is comparable with the High Rank Coal (HRC). Characterization of the raw and dried coals was carried out through proximate, ultimate, calorific value, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Thermo Gravimetry-Differential Thermal Analysis (TG-DTA) to study the combustion behavior of the coals. This study used Indonesian low rank coals coming from Tabang (TKK coal) and Samurangau (SP coal), East Kalimantan. The results indicate that the calorific value of the dried coals increases significantly due to the decrease in moisture content of the coal. The FTIR spectrums show that the methylene-ethylene (RCH3/CH2) and aromaticity-aliphaticity ratios (Rar/al) of the dried coals increased while the ratio of RCO/ar decreased which reflect that the rank of the coals increased equivalent to the high rank coal (bituminous). Meanwhile, the TG-DTA indicates that the ignition temperature (Tig) and combustion rate (Rmax) of the dried coals increased. This analysis expresses that the dried coals produced by steam drying process have better combustion behavior due to the higher calorific value than those of the raw coals.

Delay effect of mud loading to the open pit design in terms of meeting 2018 – A coal production target case study of pit XYZ at South Kalimantan

Based on the 2018, there a mining plan, two temporary sumps, namely the ABC and BCD sumps. They located in a mining sequence pattern. These sumps required a mud loading process prior to mining the coal below the sequence. The mud loading process is loaded sequentialy. However, the problem occurs when the mud loading process in the ABC sump is delayed, and resulted only 42% of mud production. Such the delay resulted in hindering the mining sequence pattern which forced changes in plans, designs, and decrease of coal production. These condition led to study the cause, impact, and alternative solution of the delay during mud loading process. The method used in this study includes direct observations and data collection of working conditions, equipment capabilities, material properties, and operation timeline. In this study, the statistical analysis is used to determine the cause and effect of delayed mud loading process. A Minex Software is then used to simulate the alternative of redesign the mining sequence pattern. The study found that the delay in mud loading process is due to the external and internal factors, that result in underproduction of coal only 505,833 tons, and delayed of coal production around 64 days. An alternative that can be conducted is to change the direction progress to the area that has low stripping ratio. Factors that can hinder the progress are need to be considered for anticipating the plan distraction at mid-term-plan.

Application of cuckoo search method in 3D slope stability analysis for limestone quarry mine

The Cuckoo Search (CS) is a very fast and efficient global optimization method to locating the slip surface which carried out by iteration. However, the Grid Search (conventional method) method in 3D slope stability analysis takes longer than this method on the computation process. Slope stability analysis was performed using the 3D limit equilibrium method “Bishop” with Cuckoo Search of slip surface by maximizing iteration of the simulation and columns in X or Y. To ensure that the slip surface within the global minimum slip surface, the maximum iteration in CS was also specified from 40 to 1200. Based on maximum columns in X or Y, the safety factor value of the 3D CS results was then compared to the Grid Search results to determine the final 3D safety factor and the estimated volume of potential failure. The final 3D safety factor obtained from the average 3D safety factor (with maximum iteration 400, 800, 1000, and 1200) is about 2,01 with the average estimated volume of slope failure of 190.000 m3 that located at the north of the pit.

Making a synthetic zeolite from a residue of bauxite washing

A zeolite synthetic of NaA type is generally prepared by mixing the alumina and silicate-containing materials (alkali alumino hydro-silicates). The used raw materials include the amorphous solids such as metakaolin, siliceous earth, coal ash, kimberlite waste, alumina trihydrate [Al(OH)3], bauxite, and aluminum metal. Residue of bauxite washing retains a fine texture and contains significant alumina and silica content, namely 30-36% Al2O3 and 10-15% SiO2. Both components are required for making the zeolite NaA . In this research, the zeolite NaA was made by extracting the alumina from residue of bauxite washing with caustic soda, and followed by reacting it with a water glass after through the flushing and washing process. The composition of zeolite NaA is as follows: 33.87% SiO2, 27.63% Al2O3, 16.31% Na2O, and 22.18% H2O with Na96Al96Si96O384.216H2O or Na12(AlO2)12(SiO2)12.27H2O as its mineral composition.