A student from The University of Queensland’s (UQ) School of Earth Sciences has been awarded a prestigious grant to research Indonesian coal and its bioreactor potential.
Ms Rita Susilawati, an Australian Government AusAid Scholarship holder, is researching the controls on microbial methane generation in selected low rank Indonesian coal.
“My study will be the first study working on Indonesian coal and its bioreactor potential," Ms Susilawati said.
"The development of CBM (coal bed methane) resources will reduce my country’s dependency on oil while also increasing our future energy security.”
Ms Susilawati has been awarded the prestigious 2012 Spackman Research Grant from the Society of Organic Petrology (TSOP) and is currently taking part in the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) expedition in the Deep Coalbed Biosphere off Shimokita, Japan.
The Spackmann Grant will support her research and will allow her to test her hypothesis that coal type has a profound influence on microbial gas generation.
If valid, a conceptual model for the identification of microbial methane prone coals can be developed using coal type and rank as a predictor.
“The results of my study are expected to improve our current understanding of coal seam gas genesis in low rank coals,” Ms Susilawati said.
"It will also assist in developing conceptual exploration targets for biogenic methane and explore the suitability of coals for future natural gas regeneration."
As a winner of the Spackman TSOP award, she has the opportunity to attend the TSOP meeting in September in Beijing, China and a summary of her research will appear in the next Society newsletter.
To ensure her success in this field, Rita has taken every opportunity available to gain more experience and in late 2011, she presented her first paper at an international student conference in London UK, based on her preliminary results.
She also presented this work at the International Geological Congress 2012 in Brisbane last August.
Currently, as part of the latest IODP expedition, Ms Susilawati has the role of a sedimentologist.
“I am lucky to have the opportunity to join with the IODP 337 Shimokita expedition," she said.
"My particular interest in this project is to compare the Indonesian and Japanese tertiary coals, for their biogenic CBM potency.”
“The expedition will also advance my knowledge in broader terms.
"Working with many scientists from around the world, I have the opportunity to learn much from their expertise.
“There are six sedimentologists on board and working in groups of three on a 12 hour rotating shift.
"Our group’s primary responsibility is to describe the lithology and stratigraphy of sediments and sedimentary rocks both in cores and cuttings as well as provide a written interpretation about the geologic history of the drilling site from the lithologic perspective.
“We also pursue our own scientific interests and assist with other scientific duties.”
After the completion of her PhD, Rita plans to return to her position in the Geological Agency of Indonesia as a CMB expert to further develop this technology in her own country.
Media: Lynelle Ross (07 3365 1023, lynelle.ross@uq.edu.au). More information about the TSOP Spackman Award can be found at www.tsop.org.
