Microbial Methane Formation from Hard Coal and Timber in an Abandoned Coal Mine

Krüger, Martin; Beckmann, Sabrina; Engelen, Bert; Thielemann, Thomas; Cramer, Bernhard; Schippers, Axel; Cypionka, Heribert

doi:10.1080/01490450802258402

Cited by 79 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…For example, methane-producing archaea (i.e., methanogens) such as the genera Methanoculleus, Methanobacterium, Methanolobus, and Methanosarcina, as well as some potential acetate-producing bacteria (i.e., acetogens), such as Acetobacterium, were dominant in a deep borehole aquifer directly connected to coal deposits in Hokkaido Island, Japan (Shimizu et al, 2007). Using incubation tracer experiments and the FISH technique, active methanogenesis was found to occur even in a highly altered graphite deposit (Krüger et al, 2008). Very recently, Fry et al (2009) reported sizable cultivatable populations of potential sulfate-reducing bacteria, methanogens, acetogens, and lignite-utilizing heterotrophs in the uplifted coaly sediments of northern New Zealand based on results from the most probable number cultivation method.…”

Section: Coal Diagenesis: Microbiological Significance For Biogeochemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, microbiological studies of terrestrial coal environments revealed the presence of hydrogenotrophic methanogens (Shimizu et al, 2007;Krüger et al, 2008: Strapoc et al, 2008. The coals in the Shimokita gas field are mostly composed of lignite and are intercalated with porous sandy layers, like lens structure (Osawa et al, 2002).…”

Section: Biogeochemical and Geobiological Experiments: Activities Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Microbio-logical and geochemical studies of terrestrial coal deposits and subsurface aquifers suggest that microorganisms play important ecological roles in coal diagenesis, resulting in substantial quantities of CBM as a terminal product (Brown et al, 1999;Detmers et al, 2001;Fry et al, 2009;Krüger et al, 2008;Shimizu et al, 2007;Strapoc et al, 2008) (Fig. F3).…”

Section: Coal Diagenesis: Microbiological Significance For Biogeochemmentioning

confidence: 99%

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IODP Scientific Prospectus

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Section: Coal Diagenesis: Microbiological Significance For Biogeochemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Biogeochemical and Geobiological Experiments: Activities Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Coal Diagenesis: Microbiological Significance For Biogeochemmentioning

confidence: 99%

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2010

IODP Scientific Prospectus

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“…To date, only a few studies have observed methanogenesis in cultures associated with coals and combined isotope geochemistry and microbial community analysis (Beckmann et al, 2011;Krüger et al, 2008). …”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon and hydrogen isotope fractionation during methanogenesis: A laboratory study using coal and formation water

Susilawati

Golding

Baublys

et al. 2016

International Journal of Coal Geology

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Carbon and hydrogen isotope compositions of CH 4 generated via methanogenesis in cultures of South Sumatra Basin (SSB) coalbed methane (CBM) formation waters grown on coal, acetate and H 2 +CO 2 were investigated. CH 4 production and molecular analysis confirmed the presence of active microbial communities that are able to convert coal into CH 4 using both acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic pathways. The representative bacterial sequences were dominated by Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Deltaproteobacteria, while Methanosaeta and Methanosarcina were the most prevalent archaeal methanogens present in the cultures.CH 4 produced in this study's culturing experiments has δ 13 C values in the range of -50 ‰ to -20 ‰, with most values falling outside the current understanding of the carbon isotopic boundaries for biogenic CH 4 (-110 ‰ to -30 ‰). However, the corresponding apparent carbon isotopic α factor (α c = 1.02±0.006), and isotopic effect (ε c = -20.1 ‰ ±15.3) showed that CH 4 in SSB cultures was predominantly produced by acetoclastic methanogenesis, which is consistent with the results of molecular DNA analysis. In addition, the calculated contribution of CO 2 reduction from the δ 13 C values of coaltreated cultures was overall < 50 %, further confirming the high contribution of the acetoclastic pathway to CH 4 production in the SSB cultures. The outcome of this experimental study also suggests that δ 2 H-CH 4 values may not provide a reliable basis for distinguishing methanogenic pathways, while apparent carbon isotopic fractionation factor (α c ) and isotope effect (ε c ) are considered more useful indicators of the methanogenic pathway.The high δ 13 C-CH 4 values (>-30 ‰) and the dominance of Methanosaeta over Methanosarcina indicate that methanogens within the SSB cultures were operating at low substrate concentrations. An unusually positive δ 13 C-CH 4 suggests a substrate depletion effect, which is thought to be related to a decrease in the relative abundance of key bacterial coal degraders with formation water inoculum storage time. Closer observation of δ 13 C-CH 4 values during the growth of cultures within a single experiment also showed a 13 C-enrichment trend over time. At log phase of growth, the CH 4 produced was 13 C-depleted when compared to the stationary phase that also indicates substrate depletion effects. Finally, the δ 13 C-CH 4 values encountered in this study (as high as -20 ‰) highlight the possible positive extension of δ 13 C-CH 4 values of acetoclastic methanogenesis from those currently reported in the literature for natural and experimental samples (as high as -30 ‰).Keywords: Biogenic gas, coal, culture experiment, isotopic composition INTRODUCTIONArchaeal methanogens are the only known microorganisms capable of forming CH 4 . These strictly anaerobic microbes are restricted to utilizing simple compounds that contain no more than two carbon atoms. As such, complex organic compounds in anoxic environments (e.g., marine sediments, rice paddies, subsurface shales and coalbeds) ...

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“…Isotope fractionation during methanogenesis has previously been investigated in laboratory samples using isolated microbes Penger et al, 2012; and incubation experiments using environmental samples Galand et al, 2010;). Many of the isotopic studies on biogenic CBM reported in the literature used environmental samples and were conducted without having information on the methanogenic microbial community involved Kinnon et al, 2010;trąpoć et al, 2007 . To date, only a few studies have observed methanogenesis in cultures associated with coals and combined isotope geochemistry and microbial community analysis Krüger et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogenic methane in Indonesian coal : assessing the potential using culture enrichment, molecular phylogenetic and isotopic analysis

Susilawati¹

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Biogenic coal bed methane (CBM) has gained considerable interest because of its potential to be regenerated. The research reported in this thesis evaluated the potential to develop Indonesian coals as CH 4 bioreactors using culture enrichment, molecular phylogenetic and isotopic composition analysis methods. The results increase the current understanding on microbial methanogenesis in coal, with a specific focus on Indonesian coals.Indonesian coals range in rank from lignite to bituminous, with anthracites occurring in specific areas. The coals are low in ash yield and dominated by vitrinite group macerals, with abundant liptinite group macerals, which is thought to make them good targets for methanogenesis.Stable isotope analysis of gas from pilot production wells confirmed the hypothesis that Indonesian CBM is partly biogenic in origin. Culture enrichment studies of formation water from these CBM pilot wells also indicated the presence of active coal to CH 4 consortia that has the capability for degrading native South Sumatra Basin (SSB) coals and foreign Surat Basin coal from Australia. Among the Indonesian coal basins, the SSB currently has the greatest CBM potential and good accessibility for gas, water, and coal sampling that is required to assess the biogenic CH 4 potential of Indonesian coal. Therefore, SSB was targeted for the experiments conducted in this thesis. The investigation of the microbial methanogen community structure grown on different coal substrates showed temporal changes in community structure over time, and suggested some influence of coal substrate on the microbial community composition. The community structure exhibited greater similarity when grown on coal from the same seam but of different ranks (Mangus iii sub-bituminous (SB) Rv 0.5% and Mangus Anthracite (A) Rv 2.2%) than for coal of similar types (Mangus SB Rv 0.5% and Burung SB Rv 0.39%). The obligate acetoclastic Methanosaeta members favor Burung SB coal, while metabolically versatile Methanosarcina members favor the Mangus coals and the obligate hydrogenotrophic methanogens are significant in the control cultures without coal. Regardless of the community structure similarities across all coal cultures, more CH 4 was generated from the lower rank sub-bituminous coal cultures relative to the one high-rank semi anthracite coal. These results suggest a potential relationship between coal type and rank, microbial community composition and CH 4 production, which warrants further investigation.While CH 4 measurements and molecular phylogenetic analysis confirmed the production of biogenic CH 4 in the cultures, the gas sampled from the culture headspace had δ 13 C-CH 4 values ( 52.2‰ to 22.6‰) that mostly fell outside the range currently considered to indicate a biogenic origin. In this study, the apparent carbon fractionation factor (α c =1.02±0.006) and isotope effect (ε c = 20.1‰±15.3) were found to be more useful indicators of methanogenic pathways than the absolute δ 13 C-CH 4 values. Both values agreed with the calculat...

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Microbial Methane Formation from Hard Coal and Timber in an Abandoned Coal Mine

Cited by 79 publications

References 30 publications

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Carbon and hydrogen isotope fractionation during methanogenesis: A laboratory study using coal and formation water

Biogenic methane in Indonesian coal : assessing the potential using culture enrichment, molecular phylogenetic and isotopic analysis

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