org/coal/coal-seam-methane/
The methane content in coal seams generally increases the deeper the seam, and also with age. As the depth of the coal seam increases, so does the pressure level. This in turn reduces the level of permeability, causing the methane to be much
more tightly bound to the coal and surrounding rock strata. Underground mining can therefore produce substantially greater levels of methane than surface mining. In fact, underground mines account for the overwhelming majority (up to 90%) of all
methane emissions from the coal sector.
Depth Interval (metres) Mean methane content (cubic metres per tonne of coal)
100 0.02
500 0.99
1000 3.73
1500 4.89
2000 7.09
Methane is highly combustible – its release can have serious implications for the safety of mine operations. It is also a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) – 23 times more harmful than carbon dioxide (CO2).
Tackling methane emissions is therefore an important step in meeting the challenge of climate change and in ensuring the safety of mining operations. Methane can also act as a valuable source of energy- it is the principal constituent of natural gas -
allowing countries to further diversify their energy supplies.
(1) Safety
Methane is released during the process of extracting coal in both surface and underground mining. The released methane then mixes with air, which becomes highly explosive if methane concentration levels reach 5-15%. Methane explosions are
devastating, causing significant loss of life and damage to property. There is significant industry effort to prevent these accidents occurring.
The risk of explosion is a particular problem in underground mines, where providing a sufficient level of ventilation air is essential. Failure to provide enough air to dilute the methane below the 5-15% range can put miners at risk due to the threat of
explosion. In surface mining, the released methane is heavily diluted by its immediate exposure to air and therefore the risk of explosion is minimal.
Methane explosions in underground mines cause a large number of deaths around the world each year. While these numbers are still too high, they have been falling year on year in recent times as awareness of the hazards of methane has
increased and methane recovery technologies have been improved and deployed on a wider scale.
The global warming potential (GWP) of methane is 23 times greater than that of CO2, which means that for a given volume of methane emitted, the resulting global warming effect will be 23 times stronger over one hundred years compared to the
same volume of CO2. Methane remains in the atmosphere for a period of approximately 12 years after it has been emitted. In comparison, CO2 is estimated to have an atmospheric lifetime of 50-200 years.
The differences in the GWP and atmospheric lifetimes of methane and CO2 means that methane has a relatively large global warming effect over a short period of time, whereas CO2 has a relatively small global warming effect but over a much
longer period of time.
Coal mining is an important anthropogenic source of methane emissions. Although agriculture accounts for by far the largest proportion of methane emissions from human activities, emissions from all coal mining related activities - extraction,
transport and storage - accounted for around 8% of total global anthropogenic methane emissions in 2006.
Coal seam methane resources are distributed differently to the ‘conventional’ natural gas found in natural gas fields. This allows countries with restricted access to natural gas but plentiful coal supplies to utilise alternative sources of natural gas.
Coal seam methane of a high quality (typically with a concentration level of over 93%) can be fed into the existing gas pipeline network to supplement or replace conventional natural gas. The United States has been utilising vast quantities of coal
seam methane in its natural gas supply since the early 1990s. This can be supplied directly to homes and businesses for use in cooking and heating. Coal seam methane can also be utilised to replace or supplement conventional natural gas in
electricity generation systems such as gas turbines and gas engine systems. These systems are often deployed directly on mine sites to provide auxiliary power to the mines themselves.
Links
Methane to Markets
UNFCCC – Kyoto Protocol Mechanisms
US EPA Coalbed Methane Outreach Programme
Safety
Energy security
In this section
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Coal Seam Methane - World Coal Institute http://www.worldcoal.org/coal/coal-seam-methane/
The methane recovered from working mines can be grouped under the term Coal Mine Methane (CMM).
The largest CBM resource bases lie in the former Soviet Union, Canada, China, Australia and the United States
The UK, US and Germany have been leaders in the development of AMM projects and huge potential also exists in China and the Czech Republic.
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