Welcome to the home of the Development of Guidelines and Evaluation of Techniques for Degassing Coal Mine Methane in Advance of Mining to Reduce Methane Emissions in the Southern Shanxi Province of China website. The purpose of this website is to provide a basic description of this project, explain the significance of this work, and to track project developments.
Project Goals
The primary objective of this project is to provide a supply of natural gas suitable for community and industrial use in China, via coalbed methane degasification (CBM). Utilization of the methane as an energy source will significantly decrease methane emissions into the environment.
Additionally, this project aims to develop guidelines for the degasification of underground coal mines in advance of mining in the southern Shanxi Province of China. The development of these guidelines will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, encourage a safer working environment for miners in the region, and decrease ventilation costs. A greenfield CBM concession in the southern Shanxi Province of China is being implemented as the study site.
General Information
The coal in this concession has a relatively low permeability, making methane extraction more challenging. In spite of this low permeability, mines in this region have been extracting significant amounts of methane because the target seams have a high gas content on a per ton basis.