Kestrel Coal Gas Drainage Plant

Kestrel Coal sought the expertise of CS GAS to propose a gas drainage solution that was based on a proven and previously delivered project with comparable criteria and operational requirements.

Location: Kestrel South mine, 40 kilometres northeast of Emerald, QLD

Industry: Underground Coal mining

Services: Engineering & Design, Procurement, Fabrication, Assembly and Factory Acceptance testing, Site installation, commissioning, Performance testing at 1-month, 3-month, 6-month and 12-month after practical completion.

Value: $10 million

The challenge

As Kestrel Coal neared the end of mining their 400 series longwall preparation began for their 500 series panels. The estimated gas drainage requirement for the 500 series panels was considerably higher than previous panels. Preparation studies conducted by Kestrel established that a maximum total gas drainage capacity of 16,000 SL/s for the 500 series panels would be required. Confirming that Kestrel needed to install new gas drainage pipe network and gas drainage plant for the 500 series panels.

Kestrel already owns three CS GAS supplied skid-mounted, variable speed lobed blower units and two flare units that provide suction to their existing buried gas drainage pipe network. So, in 2022, they sought the expertise of CS GAS to propose a gas drainage solution that was based on a proven and previously delivered project with comparable criteria and operational requirements.

The solution

Utilising our past project and design experience in comparable mining operations, CS GAS proposed to complete a FEED on the design concept of a system containing 5 GM150S blowers and 2 flare units.

The design concept responded to Kestrel’s site requirements:

Modular system
Relocatable design
Unintrusive to site operations
High reliability
Simple to use and maintain

The design concept included 5 blowers and has a performance indicator of up to 1,200 SL/s @ suction pressure of around -34kPag and with GOAF gas (80% methane) at 25*C with the 132kW motor (approved by Company for LLI procurement as part of this project).

As the project progressed Kestrel’s requirements changed, and a sixth blower unit and a third flare were added to the scope.

The outcome

The client was extremely happy with the outcome of their custom designed solution. The project was delivered on budget and on time, even with extra blower and flare added into the scope during equipment build. With our team managing the entire process end to end, we had the agility to intercept the equipment build and add to the scope.

CS GAS completed the project inside the original project timeframes and demobilised from the site 6 weeks ahead of the contractual date. Ensuring and maintaining full functionality and HSE requirements.

The CS GAS project resulted in a significant reduction in emissions from the underground mining gas and continues to help Kestrel coal mine achieve their annual production rate of 8 -10 million tons of coal.