Abstract
Abstract Between 1997 and 2016 we observed important changes in hard coal extraction and methane emission in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin. Hard coal extraction in the near future will be very dangerous because it will be necessary to reach deeper methane-rich coal seams. Permanent monitoring of the volume of emitted and captured methane is necessary to combat the methane hazard. The predictability of gaseous hazards are important in order to keep underground work safe. We gathered and analysed data from three coal companies: Katowice Coal Holding, the Coal Company, Jastrzębie Coal Company and in the whole of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin for the last twenty years and this allowed us to notice changes and CH4 trends in ventilation emission and demethanation. There is a decrease in the extraction of hard coal from year to year. At the same time there is an increase in the total methane emissions which forces actions aimed to effective contracting the methane hazard. Specifically, methane emission has been increasing for years, making hard coal extraction very dangerous. We observed increases in CH4 vent emission and volume of methane coming from underground drainage systems. Much more methane is released during hard coal extraction at deeper mine levels. Throughout the entire research period the methane hazard increased. Therefore, the development of modern technologies for methane capturing should contribute to improvement of hazardous conditions for coal mining in the basin.
Highlights
Hard coal mining is a very complicated component of the extraction industry
The purpose of the paper is to determine the variability of the volume of ventilation air methane (VAM) and demethanation at the background of the amount of coal extracted in 1997-2016 both in three coal companies, i.e. Coal Company, Katowice Coal Holding and Jastrzębie Coal Company and in the entire Polish Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB)
To show how hard coal extraction, methane emission levels and the amount of demethanation have changed, coal mines have been divided according to the previous division of USCB mines into three coal companies (Fig. 1)
Summary
Hard coal mining is a very complicated component of the extraction industry. Energy production in Poland is largely based on hard coal. Coal mines provide jobs for many people, coal extraction comes from seams that contain methane, which makes coal mining dangerous. To keep mining going and to hire many workers, companies have to reach the coal from deeper, and more dangerous, gassy seams. Many Upper Silesian coal mines extract coal from 1 000 meters below the ground level. In the near future the rest of these coal mines will have to reach the coal from deeper levels in order to keep the mines working
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