Modern Technologies for Coal Bed Methane Production in China: Trends and Development Prospects

Abstract

Coalbed methane (CBM) is a new clean and unconventional energy that has broad space for development. There are many coal deposits in China where methane is present, especially in the landfills of medium and low grades of coal. In the country, significant attention will be paid to the development of coalbed methane resources in light of the carbon doubling policy. The gas from these reservoirs has the advantages of high calorific value when burned, cleanliness and no pollution to the environment. In the presence of rich reserves of these sources of raw materials, due to late development of their industrial extraction, the complexity of operation and low profitability of this business, exploration and exploitation have lagged far behind. There are also a number of technical problems (issues of methane distribution in coal seams, determination of their recoverable part, assessment of the permeability of coal seams) that need to be addressed in the processes of applying technologies and organizing production processes and using promising, effective methods of methane extraction in China. Accordingly, the research is focused on the development of CBM operation technologies, discussion and analysis of problems, and trends in their use. The existing technologies of methane extraction from coal seams have been identified and evaluated, including from the point of view of economic feasibility, the problems of their application and further development have been identified, as well as solutions to the identified problems and directions for improving coal development technologies have been proposed.