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ISSN 0974-5904, Volume 09, No. 05
October 2016, P.P.1995-1998
#02090521 Copyright ©2016 CAFET-INNOVA TECHNICAL SOCIETY. All rights reserved.
Study on CO
2
Sorption Capacity of Coal – An Experimental
Approach
RAJEEV KUMAR PANDEY, AMIT KUMAR VERMA AND MANISH KUMAR JHA
Mining Engineering, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad-06, India
Email: rajeev.mining.ism@gmail.com, amitvermaism@gmail.com
Abstract: In the present situation of global warming, the percentage of
2
in atmospheric air is increasing very
rapidly, which will create major problem for the future generation. Storage of
2
is gaining widespread interest
as a potential method of controlling greenhouse gas emissions as suggested by Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC). This study includes methane desorption mechanism from coal bed, and suggests that
the desorbed methane can be used as a pure fuel for many purposes. It is generally acknowledged that coal beds
are an important rock medium with regard to their capacity to act as a reservoir for
2
gas. In this paper,
2
sorption capacity of coal under different temperatures has been investigated by experimental approach and also
explains the effect of cracks on coal surface in its sorption capacity. As temperature and pressure increases, with
the depth of seam from surface level, the mathematical relation derived from this experiment will be helpful in
determination of total amount of
2
that can be stored in a coal seam at various reservoir temperature. The
results will be helpful to use enhanced production of methane as additional benefit and also to use coal seam as
a permanent sink for anthropogenic
2
emission.
Keywords: Coal, Methane Desorption, CBM,
2
Sequestration
1. Introduction
The control of greenhouse gases is arguably the most
challenging environmental policy issue facing India
and other countries. Carbon dioxide is one of the
major greenhouse gases of which emissions need to
be reduced. An approach that gives a solution to
control
2
emissions by capturing and sequestering
2
in non-minable coalbeds. The key attraction of
this option is that it gives desorbed methane, as an
alternative to compressed natural gas (CNG) without
producing more greenhouse warming. [1] Depletion
of conventional resources, and increasing demand for
clean energy, forces India to hunt for alternatives to
conventional energy resources. Intense importance
has been given for finding out more and more energy
resources; specifically non-conventional ones like
CBM, shale gas & gas hydrates, as gas is less
polluting compared to oil or coal. CBM is considered
to be one of the most viable alternatives to combat the
situation [2].With growing demand and rising oil and
gas prices, CBM is definitely a feasible alternative
supplementary energy source. It is of pipe line
quality; hence can be fed directly to national pipeline
grid without much treatment. Production of methane
gas from coalbed would lead to de-methanation of
coal beds and therefore would lead to no emissions of
methane into the atmosphere, thus turning an
environmental hazard into a clean energy resource.
As the third largest coal producer in the world, India
has good prospects for commercial production of coal
bed methane. In 2006 it was estimated that of global
resources totaling 143 trillion cubic meters, only 1
trillion cubic meters was actually recovered from
reserves (CIMFR 2006 report).
This method consists of injecting
2
into deep coal
seams to sequester the carbon and enhancethe
recovery of coal-bed methane (CBM). Wasted
2
from CBM-fueled power plants could beinjected into
CBM reservoirs to produce more methane ( ) for
the power plant. 2:1 is the coal-sorption selectivity for
2
over , which supports the feasibility of
operating fossil-fueled power plants without
atmospheric
2
emissions. [4] It is possible to
enhance the recovery of methane by injecting
2
in
the coal Seam. The coal Seam exhibited the
commonly perceived (ad/de)sorption behavior
preferential adsorption of
2
and preferential
desorption of methane following
2
injection. Up to
80% of the gas-in place could be recovered by two
rounds of
2
injections. [4] An improved
understanding of these processes from the
macroscopic to the microscopic scale is important for
the accurate prediction of gas and water production as
well as 2 injection rates. Flow through the cleat
system is pressure-driven and may be described using
Darcy's law, whereas flow through the matrix is
assumed to be concentration-driven and is modeled
using Fick's law of diffusion. [5]
In this context, this paper summarizes gas sorption on
coal and specifically addresses the following issues:
understanding of
2
gas sorption on coal, changes in
sorption capacity according to the nature of the coal
body surface and temperature dependent isotherms.
Production strategy of methane from CBM is very
much different from conventional gas reservoir. It is