METHOD FOR ELECTRICAL POWER PRODUCTION BY UNDERGROUND COAL COMBUSTION Russian patent published in 2006 - IPC E21B43/295 

FIELD: mining, particularly electrical power generation by underground coal combustion.

SUBSTANCE: method involves forming isolated coal blocks in seam to be burned-off by driving down-dip uprise drifts for the full seam thickness and connecting the drifts with each other by ignition drift isolated from lower coal bed with fire-resistant coating; creating fire-resistant partition walls for the full uprise drift lengths so that the partition walls are arranged in drift centers, wherein fire-resistant coating and fire-resistant partition walls are deepened in rock massif for depth equal to coal-containing rock thickness; forming sluices provided with gates in uprise drifts; forming air-supply hole and ignition drift in each coal block; drilling gas-discharge holes in uprise drift roofs so that gas-discharge holes communicate with each sluice; laying rails in each uprise drift and arranging heat-exchangers on the rails; connecting the heat-exchangers with steam turbine of electric generation plant and heat-transfer material vessel through flexible and rigid heat-resistant pipelines; combusting coal in ignition drift and supplying heat-transfer material into heat-exchangers arranged near fire front line and moved through uprise drifts from ignition drift to surface, wherein heat-exchanger movement speed is regulated on the base of heat-transfer material temperature; forming additional uprise drifts between two adjacent ones in coal block, wherein the additional uprise drifts are adapted to supply air and to move heat-exchangers in the case of heat-exchanger contact with fire front line from both sides thereof. Isolated coal block is formed by filling extreme uprise drifts with non-combustible rock. Coal is ignited from end uprise drift parts. Air is supplied to fire front line zone and gas is discharged from the zone via pipelines laid in uprise drifts.

EFFECT: increased efficiency of gas-coal deposit potential usage for marketable product obtaining and reduced product production cost.

3 cl, 2 dwg