Co-Production System Based on Lean Methane and Biogas for Power Generation in Coal Mines

Abstract

The problem of low efficiency of coal mine methane utilization is caused by the concentration of methane of less than 10%, or a concentration that varies dramatically directly emitted into the atmosphere. This work deals with the concept of a co-production system that blends lean methane and biogas to produce electric energy. It is recommended to add the biogas generated by straws around the mines in a controlled manner to the lean methane flow to obtain the desired gas concentration in order to generate electricity. Potential electricity generation and reduced greenhouse gas emissions were also evaluated. The result shows that the co-production system can significantly improve the utilization efficiency of lean methane in coal mines; the average use of pure methane in three coal mines is 0.18, 1.12, and 5.32 million m3 every year, respectively, and the emission reduction effect of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent is, respectively, 3081, 18,796, and 89,050 tons. The electricity generated and the economic environmental benefits of the co-production system are remarkable, and it has economic feasibility and broad perspectives for popularization. It not only has the advantage of improving the utilization rate of methane and biomass and providing power supply and heat source for mines, but also has practical significance in terms of saving energy, reducing environmental pollution, adjusting the energy structure, and achieving the target of carbon emission peak and carbon neutrality.

Combustion Characteristics of Ventilation Air Methane Blending with Dimethyl Ether in a Thermal Reverse Flow Reactor

“…For a single coal mine, the VAM flow rate can reach 1,000,000 m 3 /h, where the methane concentration is 0.5 vol % on average, assuming that this fraction of methane is fully utilized, and the annual treated VAM can reach 8.76 billion m 3 . In general, the oxidation rate of methane in TFRR is 90%; therefore, the purified gas emission for 1 year is 4.38 million m 3 and the thermal production can reach 1.4 GJ.…”

“…Because CH 4 concentrations in ventilation air are frequently less than 1 vol %, there are significant barriers in the mining industry to burning ventilation air methane and recovering and utilizing oxidation heat . Methane is considered the second biggest contributor to climate change and air pollution as it has 28 times the global warming potential (GWP) of carbon dioxide over 100 years . On the other hand, it is also a high-quality, clean-burning, renewable energy source that has been frequently employed in the energy industry.…”

“…2 Methane is considered the second biggest contributor to climate change and air pollution as it has 28 times the global warming potential (GWP) of carbon dioxide over 100 years. 3 On the other hand, it is also a high-quality, clean-burning, renewable energy source that has been frequently employed in the energy industry. Large volumes of methane are released into the atmosphere by underground coal mines, ∼64% of which is VAM, resulting in a negative climatic impact and waste of resources.…”

Feasibility study of using cogeneration plants at Kuzbass coal mines

“…There are also studies [3,30], aimed at improving the efficiency of using CMM with an efficiency close to 95 % when using gas piston units operating on a cogeneration or trigeneration cycle. The publication [31] considers the idea of joint use of CMM and biogas. It is shown that in this case the payback period will be about two years.…”

Exploring the Promotion of γ‐Al2O3 on Pd/CeO2‐Catalyzed Low‐Concentration Methane Oxidation Using Operando DRIFTS‐MS

“…Significantly, one of the main CH 4 emission sources is coal mining, from which a large amount of low‐concentration (<1 %) CH 4 is emitted as ventilation air [5,6] . For a long time, ventilation‐air methane (VAM) not only causes waste of CH 4 resource, but also seriously affects the global environment [7] …”