Studies of CBM recovery and CO2 sequestration in Australia

Abstract

This paper presents a brief overview of the development of the coal bed methane (CBM) recovery and CO2 sequestration technology in Australia and summarizes the current status and future directions for the technology. It discusses the experimental and numerical issues, which could improve current understanding and modeling of the CBM recovery and CO2 sequestration. The experiments mimic the conditions in deep underground, but under laboratory controls. The facility used permits detailed observation of the enhanced CBM recovery and CO2 sequestration process, under realistic pressure and stress conditions and with large enough samples representative of bulk coal. The numerical study described at a conceptual level seeks to address particular modeling challenges such as multi-component gas transport in coal and inclusion of coal swelling and shrinkage due to gas adsorption and desorption in coal.