In Poland, the economic use of methane from coal seams has been recognized as one of the objectives of the „Energy Policy of Poland until 2030“. In Poland at the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, reconnaissance operations were initiated to collect methane from coal seams using drilling wells and hydraulic fracturing operations.

During these operations, noise emission can have a significant impact on the environment. In order to limit the negative impact of noise, well pads are usually located in undeveloped areas. However, in the European Union, the majority of hard coal deposits from which methane can be extracted are located in areas with a high population density.

This article presents the results of noise measurements carried out during hydraulic fracturing operations of coal seams and the results of calculations of the equivalent sound level during the daytime. Based on the analysis of noise emission, some recommendations are given regarding the location of planned new well pads in highly urbanized areas in order to meet the applicable standards of noise protection.

The longwall mining system with fall of the roof is still the most common hard coal extraction system in Polish mining. Its utilization for selective coal seams’ mining results in the development of post-extraction gobs at different depths. Methane desorption phenomena from the coal seams in the stress release zones and migration of gas towards the area of operations, result in methane accumulating also after completion of coal exploitation. Methane which is not exploited from the gobs can migrate directly to the atmosphere e.g. through overlying layers, faults, workings or directly via an operated ventilation grid of an adjacent coal mine – contributing to the Greenhouse Gas effect. One of the methods to capture methane (Abandoned Maine Methane) from abandoned coal mines is to drill vertical wells through several post-extraction gobs from the surface.

This paper presents the results of drilling operations at the AGH-Wieczorek-1 well, where first time in Poland, down-the-hole-hammer (DTH) with casing-while-drilling (CwD) technology were used to drill through several post-extraction gobs. The AGH-Wieczorek-1 well with 440.0 m MD was successfully drilled without any complications. Finally, three post-extraction gobs and two coal seams were drilled. Additionally, results from drillability tests, which were performed during drilling operations, are presented.

During drilling through aquifers using the rotary drilling method with drilling fluid application, the phenomenon of formation clogging in near-well zone takes place. This leads to physical changes in pore spaces in consequence of the deposition solid phase particles originating from the drilling fluid. Due to this fact, filtration velocity in the clogged zones of the aquifer formation decreases, which results in increased pressure drawdown and decreased well hydraulic efficiency. Therefore, it causes a reduction of the well total capacity. The article consists of studies connected to the development of the mud which will constitute the basis for a complex mud system intended for hydrogeological drilling in different encountered geological conditions. In the framework of laboratory research, technological parameters of six, commonly applied in oil and gas industry, polymer agents as well as new agent developed at the Drilling, Oil and Gas Faculty AGH-UST in Krakow were examined. The undertaken studies showed that the new agent, marked as CAGEx, provides the required technological parameters and can be applied as a base for drilling muds intended for hydrogeological drilling. The undertaken industrial research of the new CAGEx drilling mud carried out while drilling water intake well, confirmed the great stability of its technological parameters as well as insignificant influence on rock permeability damage in filter zone. The water intake well is characterized by high hydraulic efficiency and does not require additional activation treatment.