Geochemical investigation of hydrocarbon generation potential of coal from Raniganj Basin, India

Methane content in a coal seam is a necessary parameter for evaluating coal bed gas, and it poses an environmental risk to underground coal mining activities. Keeping in pace with comprehensive studies of coal bed gas, 12 coal samples were selected from the Sitarampur block of Raniganj Coalfield for analysis. The Petrographic examination illustrated that significant values of reactive macerals present in samples demonstrate that organic matter is dominated by the prominent source of aromatic hydrocarbons with a minor proportion of aliphatic hydrocarbon, which falls in the region of (Type III) kerogen, confirms the suitability for the potential of hydrocarbon generation. “A” factor (aliphatic/aromatic bands) and “C” factor (carbonyl/carboxyl bands) value concluded that the sample has the lowest aromaticity and the highest hydrocarbon-generating potential, which was also validated by the Van Krevelen diagram. The Van Krevelen diagram plots between the H/C and O/C ratio indicate that coal samples lie in the type III kerogen, and bituminous coal (gas prone zone) is present in the block, which is confirmed by the cross-plot between desorbed and total gas (cc/g). The in situ gas content values are high enough to produce methane from coal beds. The overall study concludes that the Sitarampur block from Raniganj Coalfield is suitable for hydrocarbon generation and extraction.

An Analysis of Financial Performance of the Coal Mining Industries: A Case Study of Raniganj Coalfield of Eastern Coalfield Limited

The leading coalfield of India, the Raniganj coalfield under Eastern Coalfield Limited is recognised as the birth place of the Indian coal mining industry and one of the most prominent coalfields not only in India but also in the world. It is also the second largest supplier of superior quality of coal in the nation at present subsequent to Jharia coalfield. Raniganj and Jharia Coalfields (RCF & JCF) can be recognised as mirror image in the history of coal mining in India. Both the coal mining areas are witnessing mining of coal for more than 230 years. With the shifting of economic structure of the country, the cold filed region has registered quite a lot of ups and down in its financial performance. From this point of view the current paper is an attempt to assess the financial performance in the field of mining segment of Raniganj Coal Field, the most important coal producer in West Bengal. The whole study is entirely based on secondary data. A period of five year from 2014-15 to 2019-20 has been determined for the study. The data have been tabulated, analysed and interpreted with the help of Z Score Model and Economic Value Added (EVA) based on financial ratios. It is observed from the analysis of various financial ratios that the revenue earning capability, liquidity condition and long-standing solvency situation of RCF, is to a certain extent good during the entire study period and the level of bankruptcy situation is also very low.

Petrophysical Investigation of Hydrocarbon Generation Potential of Coal from Raniganj Basin, India

Methane content in a coal seam is a necessary parameter for evaluating coal bed gas, and it is a threat to underground coal mining activities from environmental aspects. Keeping in pace with comprehensive studies of coal bed gas, the authors had selected 12 coal samples from the Sitarampur block of Raniganj Coalfield. The Petrographic examination illustrated that significant values of reactive macerals present in samples demonstrate that organic matter is dominated by kerogen Type III, making it suitable for hydrocarbon generation. “A” factor (aliphatic/aromatic bands) and “C” factor (carbonyl/carboxyl bands) value concluded that the sample has the lowest aromaticity and the highest hydrocarbon-generating potential, which also validated by the cross plot between atomic H/C and O/C. The plots between the H/C and O/C ratio in the Van Krevelen diagram indicate that the coal samples lie in the type III kerogen, and bituminous coal (gas prone zone) is present in the block, which confirmed by the cross plot between desorbed and total gas (cc/g). The in-situ gas content values are high enough to produce methane from coal beds. The overall study concludes that the Sitarampur block from Raniganj Coalfield is suitable for hydrocarbon generation and extraction.