METHANE FROM COAL

Methane in coal is a result of :

Coalification -- process by which peat is transformed into coal during progressive

burial; involving the expulsion of volatiles, mainly methane, water, and carbon dioxide.

Postcoalification biogenic activity (in some cases); the biogenic methane is generated
by bacterial activity associated with groundwater systems. Most coals at shallow
depths are aquifers, due to the presence of a well-developed cleat (fracture) system.

Two basic phases of coalification :

1. An early shallow-burial phase dominated by microbial degeneration of original organic
material (peat), coupled with physical compaction, maceration, and expulsion of
interstitial water.
2. A later phase of increasing overburden characterised by abiogenic chemical and
physical alteration involving polymerisation, depolymerisation, and cracking. Primary
volatiles produced include water, methane, various wet gases (eg. ethane, propane,
and butane) and carbon dioxide.
A simplified diagram illustrating the relative abundance of methane and wet gases
generated during progressive coalification is shown in Figure 1.
Thermogenic methane is significant at the sub-bituminous level, reaching a maximum in
high-medium volatile bituminous levels. High-medium volatile bituminous coals have
comprised the dominant target of coalbed methane exploration.
Analysis of coalbed gases in various U.S. basins indicate a predominance of early
thermogenic, main-phase thermogenic, and late-stage biogenic methane (Scott, 1993).
Low-rank coals that exist at shallow depths and have significant outcrop exposure may
contain mainly late-stage biogenic methane (documented on the basis of 13C isotope
data, which exhibit wide scatter for thermogenic methane, presumably due to progressive
gas generation, and much more restricted values for late-stage biogenic gas (Rice, 1993).
Gas is stored within the coal as :
1. Limited free gas within the micropores and cleats (fractures) of the coal.
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2. Dissolved gas in water within the coal.

3. Adsorbed gas held by molecular attraction on coal particle, micropore, and cleat
surfaces.
4. Adsorbed gas within the molecular structure of the coal (Yee et al., 1993).
Matrix permeability of coals is extremely low; fluid conductivity depends upon natural
fracturing, that is, cleat development. Cleats normally occur in two mutually orthogonal
systems (face and butt cleats), both perpendicular or nearly perpendicular to bedding,
which imparts significant permeability anisotropy to a particular coal reservoir.
Cleat genesis (suggests fracturing) results from a number of interdependent influences,
including (Close, 1993) :

lithification,

desiccation,

coalification,

paleotectonic stress

Ability of any particular coal to store methane is a function of several factors, including :
coal rank,
burial depth (increasing pressure and temperature allows for increased storage), and
water saturation among others.
Gas migration within coal takes place by a combination of :

desorption,

diffusion,

free-phase flow, and occurs as a direct result of pressure decrease.

The relatioship between volume of gas released and a given drop in pressure is complex,
nonlinear, and specific to an individual coal (Levine, 1993).
Drilling and Completion
CBM wells are commonly :

drilled with air or native mud,

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cased and cemented through the target coal, the perforated and stimulated using
hydraulic fracturing

the dewatered for a period of up to 6 months to 1 year before significant gas

production begins.

Typically :

A small number of scattered wells are first drilled to dewater the relevant coal beds.

Once gas production begins, downhole electric submersible pumps are run on tubing,
and gas-water separator vessels are placed at the surface.

In a few areas, cavitation (collapsing of the well bore via formation breakdown) is used
to help accelerate gas production.

The general approach just described was found to be inappropriate and uneconomical for
several reasons :
1. Drilling through the especially thick, high-permeability coals commonly resulted in lost
circulation problems..
2. Casing and cementing through these thick coals caused hole washout and perforation
plugging, resulting in reduced flow capacity.
3. Target coal beds are not at all uniform in hydrological character, but change from being
partly to largely dewatered in updip areas near existing mines to high-permeability,
overpressured aquifers in downdip areas.
4. Thus, updip wells required little or no dewatering for gas production, whereas
downdip wells produced larger volumes of water than expected and could not be
sufficiently dewatered when drilled on fairly wide spacing.
5. Use of surface gas-water separator equipment placed an additional economic burden
on wells that required extended periods of time to begin producing significant volumes
of gas.
6. Cavitation techniques, which rely upon injected fluids (typically nitrogen foam) to
effect breakdown, are impractical due to the shallow depths and very low bottom-hole
pressures in coals.