Evaluation of coalbed methane resources in Xinjing Baoan block based on PCA, TOPSIS, & MLFM

Abstract

Coalbed methane (CBM) resources are abundant in the Baoan blocks of the Xinjing coalfield, China; their exploration and development remain in infancy. Suitable development blocks can be selected by evaluating their development potential; that of the No. 8 and 15 CBM systems in the Baoan blocks was evaluated using three quantitative evaluation methods via existing geological data: multi-level fuzzy mathematics (MLFM), technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), and principal component analysis (PCA). The results demonstrated that the CBM development potential in the central part of the Baoan blocks is low and unbecoming. The favorable areas of the No. 8 coal seam are distributed in the northeast and northwest, and that of No. 15 in the northwest and southwest Differences exist in quantitative selection; with limited data, the evaluation of the TOPSIS method is considerably different from actuality, and is unbecoming for evaluating the development potential.