Improved mine gas drainage for better utilization, reduced environmental damage and safer working conditions in Chinese coal mines - David Creedy, Wardell Armstrong     (Click here for full text)

Yangquan mine CMM-power project: Technical and economic evaluation - Scott Stevens, President, Advanced Resources International; Dan Brunner, REI Drilling Inc.;  Liu Zilong, Yangquan CBM Development Corp.     (Click here for full text)

Coalbed gas reservoir characterization and methane recovery in Australia - A. Saghafi, CSIRO Energy Technology     (Click here for full text)      

Exploration and mining forecast: CMM in the Bowen Basin, Australia - R. Worrall and S. Xue, CSIRO     (Click here for full text)

Promoting coal mine methane projects with CDM mechanisms - Nicole Fabri, Natsource LLC     (Click here for full text)

An analysis of emerging technologies and markets for coal mine methane - Karl Schultz, U.S. EPA     (Click here for full text)

Coal mine gas project at Tiefa Coal Industry (Group) Limited Liability Company, Liaoning Province - Guojun Li, Tiefa Coal Industry (Group) and Hiroaki Hirasawa, Japan Coal Energy Center      (Click here for full text)

The application of directional drilling technology for gob gas drainage - Daniel Brunner and Jeffrey Schwoebel, REI Drilling, Inc.  (Click here for full text)

Challenges in planning, developing and financing CMM projects in China - Raymond C. Pilcher, Raven Ridge Resources, Incorporated

Policies for coalbed methane resources management in China - Zhe Changbo, Ministry of Land and Mineral Resources

Potential for Commercial Development of Coal Mine Methane in China - Huang Shenchu, Vice President, China Coal Information Institute

Foreign Cooperation in Coalbed Methane Projects in China, and Procedures - Zhang Suian, Professor, China United Coalebd Methane Ltd.

Investment Opportunities for CMM/CBM Projects in Huainan Mining Area -  Yuan Liang, Chief Engineer, Huainan Mining Group Co.

Coalbed Methane Resources and Development Potential in Coal Mining Areas in Western Guizhou Province - Xu Binbin, Guizhou Coalfield Geological Bureau

Extraction and Use of Coal Mine Gas from Abandoned Mines - Ren Tingxiang, Senior Research Fellow, University of Nottingham, UK

Investment Opportunities for CMM/CBM Projects in Yangquan Mining Area - Li Baoyu, Chief Engineer, Yuangquan Coal Group

Current Status and Outlook of CMM Development and Use in Fushun Mining Area - Sui Yulin, President, Shunyang Coalbed Methane Co., Ltd.

Current Status and Plan of CMM-fired Power Generation in Jincheng Mining Area - Wu Rangkui, Senior Engineer, Shanxi Jincheng Anthracite Mining Group

Coalbed Methane Recovery by Horizontal Directional Longhole - Sun Donglin, Senior Engineer, China Coal Research Institute, Chongqing Branch

Coalbed Methane Recovery by Gob Well - Song Shengyin, Professor, China Coal Research Institute, Xi'An Branch

Description of coalbed methane reservoir damage and preventions in well completion - Kang Yili, Southwest Petroleum Institute

Introduction of Gas Turbine Based Power Generation Technology - Zeng Baosen, President, South Gas Turbine Engineering Co.

A New Technology of Producing Methanol with Coal Mine Methane and its Technical and Economic Assessment -  Li Wenhuai, Associate Professor, China Academy of Sciences, Shanxi Coal Chemistry Research Institute

Determination of coal seam permeability by use of remote sensing technology - Wang Yong, China Coal Remote Sensing Application Institute

Factors impacting accuracy of measurement in injection/pressure drop tests - Qin Yuying, China New Star Petroleum Corp.

Full Text of Abstracts

Improved mine gas drainage for better utilization, reduced environmental damage and safer working conditions in Chinese coal mines - David Creedy, Wardell Armstrong   
Coal mine methane utilisation schemes benefit both the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and benefit the mine by generating revenue.  These aims can only be achieved if a project is sufficiently robust to attract financial support.  
     The environmental and financial gains from a CMM project are likely to be greatest, and the investment the most secure, where detailed attention is paid to the design, organisation and management of methane drainage at the mine. Financial investment on the surface   therefore needs to be matched by investment underground to ensure that the gas flow and quality is optimised. An integrated management approach is needed which recognises mine safety and efficient gas capture for utilisation as common goals, but always with mine safety as a priority.
     A gas utilisation scheme is susceptible to underground safety, geological and coal production risks. Investors will expect to see measures in place to control these risks. Delivery of gas to the surface utilisation scheme must not be jeopardised by inadequate safety precautions underground. New inspection regulations and safety training have been introduced at Chinese mines but these alone will not necessarily produce the desired safety improvements. In gassy mines these measures will need reinforcing with modern methane drainage equipment, up to date monitoring and control technology, changes in management practises and an evolving safety culture among the workforce.  

Yangquan Mine CMM-Power Project: Technical and Economic Evaluation - Scott Stevens, President, Advanced Resources International; Dan Brunner, REI Drilling Inc.; Liu Zilong, Yangquan CBM Development Corp.
Evaluation of coal mine methane (CMM) production and utilization options at the Yangquan coal mine in Shanxi Province indicates that a CMM-to-Power facility is technically and economically feasible. The Yangquan mine complex, one of the China’s largest anthracite mining centers, currently captures an average of 320,000 m³/day of CMM (100% CH₄ equivalent) using superjacent gallery and cross-measure borehole drainage. Some of the captured methane is used locally by 85,000 households, via an extensive low-pressure pipeline and storage system. However, most of the captured methane (200,000 m³/day) is considered excess supply and vented to the atmosphere. Several options exist for utilizing this waste gas stream, including transporting it via pipeline to Taiyuan (100 km away), combustion in gas turbine for power generation, and combustion using reciprocating engines. Our analysis shows that the most feasible design would be an array of small (1-MW) reciprocating engines, similar to the system employed successfully at the Tower and Appin mines near Sydney, Australia. Current gas supply would be sufficient for a 43-MW power facility, increasing to 51-MW by 2005. By reducing CH₄ emission, the power facility could also accrue significant GHG credits of 1.4 million t/year of CO₂-equivalent. To improve gas recovery and reliability, recommended improvements to the gas recovery system include: implementation of directional drilling equipment of drainage and karst exploration in advance of mining, gob gas recovery, underground gas collection upgrades including fused HDPE pipelines, and monitoring and control systems.  

Coalbed gas reservoir characterization and methane recovery in Australia - A. Saghafi, CSIRO Energy Technology 
     New techniques to characterize coal seams for their reservoir storage and flow properties have been developing in Australia over the last two decades. The traditional reason for measuring these properties was mine safety and the data were used to assist in designing underground coal mine ventilation and gas drainage systems. The main parameters measured at that time were gas content and the rate of gas desorption. With further development of measurement techniques and better understanding of the fundamentals of gas flow in coal, mathematical models were developed. These models required knowledge of many other coal properties, which were not used before. Properties such as sorptive capacity, permeability and diffusion coefficient of coal seams were required to simulate the flow of gas in coal. 
     With the interest in recovery of coal seam gas as a resource in late 80s and early 90s, the characterization of coal for its reservoir properties became more of interest to the coal seam gas industry. In Australia large potential exists for methane recovery (and sequestration of carbon dioxide) in the coal measures sequences in Sydney Basin in NSW and Bowen Basin in Queensland.  Gas in these coals mainly consists of methane and carbon dioxide with minor amounts of ethane and higher hydrocarbons. The methane represents a mixture of thermogenetic gas generated at high depths and secondary biogenetic gas at shallow depths. Most of the carbon dioxide was introduced into the coal measures sequences as a result of magmatic activity.
     The most important coal seam parameters, which can identify a coal seam as an economic gas resource, are gas content and in-situ permeability. In the 90s enormous effort was undertaken to produce some standard and accurate measurements methods to characterise the coal seam for these properties.  Measurements of other properties such as gas sorption isotherm are currently being cross checked among the Australian coalbed methane laboratories and the aim is to converge toward the most accurate and cost effective methods of measurement of the gas storage and gas flow in coal. 
     Recently, climate change concerns over fugitive emissions of mine gas have led to attention to gas desorption from low gas content coal at shallow depth. Properties such as residual gas content and coefficient of diffusion are important for the accurate emission inventories.  Carbon dioxide sequestration is also being studied in the light of  new potential offered by both progress in  longhole drilling technology and more accurate and cost effective coal seam gas characterisation methods.   

Exploration and mining forecast: CMM in the Bowen Basin, Australia - R. Worrall and S. Xue, CSIRO
     This paper predicts CMM from Bowen Basin underground gassy coal mines in terms of its pipeline quantity and quality in the period to 2012 based on three coal production scenarios (business-as-usual ± 20%). CMM emission is predicted from pre-drainage and goaf drainage, with particular emphasis on high quality pipeline gas. The methodology employed is also reviewed in this paper.
     It is recognised that both coal production and associated CMM emissions will be characterised by significant annual fluctuations associated with mine closures and openings in the Bowen Basin.  For the business-as-usual scenario, CMM emission (pipeline quality) will trend upwards throughout 2000-2012, from 137 Mm³ to 450 Mm³ by 2012.
     The findings presented in this paper form a part of the broad study to investigate the potential of CMM utilisation in Queensland and to develop strategies for greenhouse gas mitigation.

Promoting Coal Mine Methane Projects with CDM Mechanisms - Nicole Fabri, Natsource LLC
     Growing opportunities are making the development of coalmine methane increasingly attractive in China. Methane is not only valuable economically when used as a fuel, it is also valuable environmentally when it is captured and used efficiently because it helps curb global warming.  Left uncontrolled, methane is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) that contributes significantly to global warming. A global market is emerging for trading in GHG emission reductions.  This new market is growing out of the international effort to reduce these harmful anthropogenic gases under the Kyoto Protocol, which is currently being negotiated.  This Protocol would cap GHG emissions in industrialized countries, and it would allow them to trade excess GHG reductions in a global market. Also, the protocol allows projects in developing countries to create credits for sale in this trading market, provided they are certified under its “Clean Development Mechanism” (“CDM”).
     A coalmine methane project in China could generate an additional stream of revenue if it successfully produced GHG emission reductions for sale in the market.  Increased revenues from GHG reduction sales can sometimes make the difference between a project that isn’t economically viable, and one that is.
     Even before the Kyoto Protocol comes into effect, the global emissions trading market is emerging.  To be successful in attracting investment in this new market, projects must satisfy buyers, who generally set conditions that they believe will apply in future regulatory programs in their countries or under the Protocol and its CDM.  In order to monetize the greenhouse gas emission reductions from a coalmine methane project, developers, investors and policy specialists must consider current market realities, including crucial trading criteria, pricing determinations, and marketing strategies. Since the coalmines in question during this conference are mainly located in China, it is important to assess opportunities that the CDM might create. The trading criteria under the CDM will likely be more complex than trading programs in developed countries and warrant discussion, along with China’s unique situation. Because monetizing an intangible commodity in an uncertain market can make investors and developers wary, the various guarantees, liabilities and insurance tools at hand will be assessed.
     The negotiations surrounding the Kyoto Protocol are still underway and are changing every day. However, even without a final Protocol, emissions trading programs are developing and coming into force in different countries and regions around the world.  Also, global companies are taking voluntary targets that utilize emissions trading strategies.  These advances are creating demand for CDM-styled reductions now.  An overview of these developments and the likelihood of coalmine methane from China being accepted into one of these trading systems will be discussed. Once a coalmine methane project manager determines that their reductions may be accepted, he or she needs to formulate a market entry strategy. Five steps to creating a successful market strategy are outlined.

An Analysis of Emerging Technologies and Markets for Coal Mine Methane -Karl Schultz, U.S. EPA
     Tremendous growth in the U.S. coal mine methane industry during the 1990's has meant that the vast majority of drained gas is now sold or used on-site.  However, a limited quantity of drained gas is still vented, most frequently because of low or erratic production, low quality, or distance from markets.  Additionally, the majority of gas liberated from coal mining vents to the atmosphere from the ventilation shafts in high volumes but with concentrations typically below one percent.  This paper summarizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's work identifying technologies and commercial markets for these remaining gas streams, and considers international opportunities to advance established and emerging technologies and markets.
     The lower quality drained gas may be safely flared.  An emerging market in greenhouse gas emissions offsets makes this practice economically attractive.  EPA is working with coal operators and the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration to deploy flares at U.S. mines.  The practice, which has been demonstrated in Australia, may be attractive world-wide as a low-cost measure to reduce emissions.  The paper will consider the advantages and disadvantages of flaring, and consider the global market for flaring.
     Ventilation air methane (VAM), the gas liberated through mine ventilation shafts, may be employed as feed air for power generation or other mine-site uses, or it may be employed as the primary fuel in flow reversal reactors.  The greenhouse gas emissions offset market may make oxidation of methane financially viable.  Alternatively, the heat output from flow reversal reactors may find use for local heating demand or for the production of power in steam or gas turbines.  The technology has been demonstrated at mine sites in Australia and the United Kingdom, and EPA is working with coal operators, private system developers, and the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration to safely deploy commercial scale units.  The paper will summarize the global markets for these technologies examining system costs and characteristics of ventilation air methane and energy markets in key countries.
     To further reduce methane emissions in the U.S., the EPA must focus on the above two emerging practices.  Globally, however, there are many opportunities for commercially proven technologies to be applied to further reduce emissions.  Additionally, there may be significant opportunities in the U.S. and elsewhere to significantly increase the quantity of gas drained.  The paper will consider some of the factors influencing global markets for commercially available technologies, and also look at some promising drilling technologies that may increase the quantity of high quality gas.
     The paper will conclude with a first-order quantification of the global potential for commercially attractive coal mine methane projects.

Coal mine gas project at Tiefa Coal Industry (Group) Limited Liability Company, Liaoning Province - Guojun Li, Tiefa Coal Industry (Group) and Hiroaki Hirasawa, Japan Coal Energy Center
     This Project is implemented as an APEC Multilateral Cooperation Model Project for the purpose of verifying the technical and economic feasibility of the efficient recovery and effective utilization of coal mine gas in Chinese coal mines. 
     The Tiefa Coal Industry (Group) Limited Liability Company, Liaoning Province, will improve the gas recovery system and upgrade the gas recovery ratio under the present Project.  As a result, the gas recovered from its seven collieries is collected through a network pipeline and supplied as town gas to the colliery housing estates and the neighboring city.
     The results that can be expected from the Project are an improvement in mine safety and management, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and the effective utilization of a currently unused clean energy.
     The gas recovery and utilization system consists mainly of gas draining boring equipment, sealing equipment, suction equipment for gas withdrawal from the seal, gas storage equipment, gas concentration controlling equipment, gas pressure-feeding equipment, and a central monitoring and control system.  The costs for the introduction of these items of equipment and the transfer of the technology are shared between Japan and China.  The technology transfer is taking place by having engineers from the Tiefa Coal Industry (Group) Limited Liability Company come to Japan for training and Japanese engineers go to China to give technical instructions and guidance.  Furthermore, an APEC Technical Committee was established and is active for providing technical project support.
     The Project started with the site selection survey which was conducted in 1996 and has progressed to the extent that the installation of the gas recovery system in the model mines has now been completed.  Thanks to the introduction of the efficient gas recovery system, the volume of gas recovered from the mines has substantially increased.  The supply of the recovered mine gas as town gas was initiated at the end of 2000, using provisional equipment.  The installation of the gas utilization system is scheduled to be completed in 2001.  Pilot operation of the integrated gas recovery and utilization system and its evaluation are planned to take place in 2002.

The application of directional drilling technology for gob gas drainage - Daniel Brunner and Jeffrey Schwoebel, REI Drilling, Inc.
     Directional drilling technology has been applied in numerous gassy underground coal mines world-wide to develop horizontal, angled, or parabolic boreholes in the strata above (or under) the mining horizon for gob gas recovery.  The technique applies state-of-the-art, in-mine directional drilling equipment normally used to develop long in-seam methane drainage or exploration boreholes.  The gob boreholes are directionally drilled for placement: (a) below the lowest producing source seam as possible, (b) to intersect the fracture zone above the rubble zone after the gob forms, (c) in the tension zones near the edges of the panel, (d) over the low pressure or high elevation side of the gob, and (e) to remain intact following undermining.  The technique has been applied successfully in longwall mines in Japan, China, Germany, and in the U.S.  In most cases the technique is advantageous over conventional cross-measure and  other superjacent (gallery) gob gas drainage methods which are more costly to apply and operate. 
     This paper presents the results of recent applications of this technique at several longwall mines world-wide, and outlines factors which drainage engineers should consider when evaluating the application and benefits of this technique.  These factors include, placement of the boreholes in the vertical plane, completion of the boreholes, anticipated gas production and methane drainage effectiveness, and wellhead configuration and control.