A Study on Prospective Carbon Dioxide Storage Resources at Hwasun Coal Mine

Abstract

South Korea's carbon neutrality policies are causing the domestic coal industry to contract, leading to interests in repurposing abandoned coal mines as CO 2 storage sites. This study investigated the relationship between coal particle size and CO 2 adsorption, specifically focusing on the Hwasun coal mine. The findings reveal that smaller coal particles exhibit higher CO 2 adsorption capacities, demonstrating substantial storage potential. However, the injection of supercritical CO 2 requires a depth of 800 m, whereas the Hwasun coal mine reaches a depth of only 560 m. Therefore, further exploration and capacity assessment are essential. Assuming a 1-m-thick coal layer below 800 m, the CO 2 injection well could store 27-320 thousand tons of CO 2 . Additionally, even in the event of leakage into the lower tunnel, the high CO 2 adsorption capacity of coal could effectively mitigate such occurrences.