Coal mine methane control cost and full cost: The case of the Luling Coal Mine, Huaibei coalfield, China

Abstract

Affected by the macroeconomic situation, the profits of Chinese coal production continue to decline. Coal mines are forced to increase their methane control investment to ensure safety in production as methane disasters are becoming more and more serious. It is necessary for coal mines to calculate the methane control cost and the full cost of each alternatives before mining to perform economic evaluations for choosing methane control measures and mining methods in such a grim climate for the coal industry. Of all the optional methane control measures and mining methods, the purpose of cost reduction in coal mines could therefore be achieved by choosing the most economical one. Based on the analysis of the methane control technologies of the second and the third level, the Luling Coal Mine in the Chinese Huaibei coalfield is taken as an example to propose a simplified method of calculating the methane control cost and the full cost before mining. In this method, the full cost is divided into the direct production cost, indirect production cost, business tariff and annex and period cost. The current methane control cost and full cost are calculated at the current price level, and then, the actual costs are calculated with a certain annual growth rate according to the engineering time. The methane control costs and the full costs of a working face in the Luling Coal Mine's second and third level are obtained, and the cost-cutting measures are provided. Despite of small economic benefit, most of the drained methane is used as domestic fuel or for electricity generation, which brings obvious environmental effects.