Conducting CMM Project
Pre-Feasibility Studies
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Training by the U.S. EPA in Support of the Global Methane Initiative (GMI)
slide: CMM Project Development
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Acronym/Term
Coal mines that are temporarily or permanently closed that produce significant methane emissions from diffuse vents, fissures, or boreholes.
Methane accumulated on the surface of coal.
An empirical relation between the concentration of a solute on the surface of an adsorbent to the concentration of the solute in the liquid with which it is in contact.
A rock fold that bulges upward in the middle.
The non-combustible residue left after carbon, oxygen, sulfur, and water has been driven off during combustion. The remaining residue or ash is expressed as a percent of the original coal sample weight.
A narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally.
Areas where the coal seam is truncated by noncoal rock.
Methane released from coal due to mining activities. Like CBM, CMM is a subset of the methane found in coal seams, but it refers specifically to the methane found within mining areas (e.g., within a mining plan), while CBM refers to methane in coal seams that will never be mined. Because CMM would be released through mining activities, recovering and using CMM is considered emissions avoidance.
The measured or approximate thickness of the coal-bearing strata. Measured from the top of the coal-bearing unit to the top of the underlying unit.
Methane extracted from coal seams before mining occurs.
A cylindrical section of a naturally occurring substance, typically obtained by drilling through the subsurface with a hollow steel tube called a core drill.
A measure of mobility of gases from one gradient to another.
Breaks in the earth’s crust across which movement has occurred.
Thorough report investigating the economic and technical feasibility of project development. This document is considered “bankable”, meaning it is sufficient to secure project financing.
Bending of rock layers caused by compression of rocks, usually as part of mountain-building when tectonic plates collide.
Volume of gas contained in a unit mass of coal and is generally expressed in cubic meters, at standard pressure and temperature conditions, per tonne of coal.
Methods employed by underground coal mines, abandoned mines, and occasionally surface mines, for capturing the naturally occurring gas in coal seams to prevent it entering mine airways. Gas drainage systems include a combination of drainage boreholes and/or galleries, a gathering network, and vacuum pumps to draw gas to the surface. Gas can be removed from coal seams in advance of mining using pre‐drainage techniques and from coal seams disturbed by the extraction process using post‐drainage techniques. It is often referred to as methane drainage if methane is the main gas component target to be captured. Gas drainage produces coal mine methane of a higher quality than ventilation, generally in the 25 — 100 percent range.
The quantity of gas produced by pre-mine drainage and post-mine drainage boreholes and drainage galleries.
The volume of gas stored within a specific bulk reservoir rock volume (e.g., coal).
The collection of geological and hydrologic information in wells by lowering and raising probes on a wire. It is typically more useful to employ a suite of different geophysical logs when collecting information.
Launched in 2004, the GMI is an international public-private initiative that advances cost-effective, near-term methane abatement and recovery and use of methane as a clean energy source in three sectors: biogas (including agriculture, municipal solid waste, and wastewater), coal mines, and oil and gas systems. Focusing collective efforts on methane emission sources is a cost-effective approach to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increase energy security, enhance economic growth, improve air quality and improve worker safety.
Molten magma that rises up from the mantle that thrust into existing rock formations.
It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in many different contexts. For example, in fields such as physics, geology, chemistry, or biology, in situ may describe the way a measurement is taken, that is, in the same place the phenomenon is occurring without isolating it from other systems or altering the original conditions of the test. The opposite of in situ is ex situ.
Terrain that has sinkholes, sinking streams, caves, and springs.
The pressure at which storage capacity equals one half of Langmuir volume. Also known as the critical desorption pressure, where gas is released from the surface of a substance.
The total adsorption capacity of a substance. The maximum amount of gas that can be adsorbed to coal or shale at infinite pressure.
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. Methane's lifetime in the atmosphere is much shorter than carbon dioxide, but it is 28 times as efficient at trapping radiation than CO2 over a 100-year period. Methane is the main precursor of ground level ozone pollution, and thus affects air quality. Methane is also an energy resource that can be captured and used. Methane in mines poses safety risks, due to its explosiveness when mixed with air.
The solid inorganic material in coal.
A bed of coal lying between a roof and floor.
The state or quality of a material or membrane that causes it to allow liquids or gases to pass through it.
The measure of void or pores space present when a solid and is represented by volume percentage of void in the solid. It defines the maximum possible amount of methane that can be retained in the coal.
Drilling boreholes (vertical gob wells, cross-measure boreholes, directional horizontal boreholes, or gob drainage galleries) in advance of mining so that they are in place prior to under-mining but producing gas during and after the seam is being mined.
Typically provide a detailed technical analysis of site-specific information and considers project financing. Provides a gas production forecast and a review of current gas drainage practices. However, this document provides less granularity than a full feasibility study. This document is typically not considered a “bankable” document.
Drilling in-seam boreholes to extract gas from the coal seam in advance of mining operations.
An assay of the moisture, volatile matter, fixed carbon, and ash content of a coal sample.
The classification of coals according to their degree of metamorphism, progressive alteration, or coalification (maturation) in the natural series from lignite to anthracite.
The quantity of gas remaining in a sample of coal following a period of gas desorption.
Wedge-shaped rock bodies that cause parts of the coal seam above and below the rock wedge to separate or split from each other.
A layer of sedimentary rock or soil; refers to a layer of coal in this instance.
A rock fold that bulges downward ("sinks") in the middle.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE or UNECE) is one of the five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was established in order to promote economic cooperation and integrations among its member states. The commission is composed of 56 member states, most of which are based in Europe, as well as a few outside of Europe. Its transcontinental Eurasian and non-European member states include: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the United States of America, and Uzbekistan.