Marsh Gas Research Articles

Research on the Energy Utilization Structure of Rural Residence in Hunan Province, China

The purposes of this study are to look into the actuality of rural residential energy consumption in Hunan province, China, to improve energy utilization structure, and to protect the environment. An investigation on rural residential energy consumption was carried out in the villages of Xintian and Jiangwan from March to May 2005. Common energy is used in Xintian while marsh gas is popularized in Jiangwan. A questionnaire survey covered basic information of residences in the two villages, and energy consumption of each family was also tracked continuously. In this paper, the energy utilization structures of the two villages are contrasted. Sequentially, the economic and environmental benefits are assessed when marsh gas substitutes biomass energy. The conclusions are summarized as follows: a complicated energy structure is still dominant, where biomass energy accounts for a significant proportion and manifold energies exist simultaneously; and consumption of the energy is high. Nevertheless the usage of marsh gas makes a great contribution in optimizing energy consumption structure, which could reduce energy consumption and domestic costs, discharge less harmful gases and keep the ecosystem in balance. The comparison between common energy and ecotype energy provides instructions for the future development of rural residential energy consumption.

Current status and prevention strategy for coal-arsenic poisoning in Guizhou, China.

Arsenic exposure from burning coal with high arsenic contents occurs in southwest Guizhou, China. Coal in this region contains extremely high concentrations of inorganic arsenic. Arsenic exposure from coal-burning is much higher than exposure from arsenic-contaminated water in other areas of China. The current status and prevention strategies for arsenic poisoning from burning high-arsenic coal in southwest Guizhou, China, is reported here. Over 3,000 arsenic-intoxicated patients were diagnosed based on skin lesions and urinary arsenic excretion. Non-cancerous toxicities and malignancies were much more common and severe in these patients than in other arsenic-affected populations around the world. The high incidence of cancer and arsenic-related mortality in this cohort is alarming. Chelation therapy was performed but the long-term therapeutic effects are not satisfactory. The best prevention strategy is to eliminate arsenic exposure. Funds from the Chinese Government are currently available to solve this arsenic exposure problem. Strategies include the installation of vented stoves, the use of marsh gas to replace coal, health education, the improvement of nutritional status, and the use of various therapies to treat arsenic-induced skin and liver diseases.

…and Marsh-Gas Microbes from Glacial Ice Seem Consistent with Martian Life

Samples from 3,053-m-deep ice cores from glacial ice that overlays Greenland contain methanogenic bacteria, whose earthly presence carries interplanetary implications, according to Buford Price and his collaborators from the University of California, Berkeley (UCB). They speculate that bacteria, if found in similarly icy sites on Mars, could be the source of that planet’s atmospheric methane, which also is called marsh gas.

Ancient and Modern Earthquake Lights in Northwestern Turkey

Before dawn on 17 August 1999 one of the greatest earthquakes in modern Turkish history occurred on the historically active North Anatolian Fault (Ambraseys, 2002). The epicenter lay near the town of Izmit in Kocaeli province, not far east of Istanbul (ancient Constantinople). At Golcuk on the eastern shore of the Sea of Marmara, an eyewitness reported that “the earth came alive with shaking, the sky turned red, a sword of light flew out of the sea” (Gore, 2000). Rothaus et al. (2003) interviewed many other Golcuk eyewitnesses, who independently confirmed that “the sky glowed red” and “the sea glowed red” during the shaking. Since the night was overcast, the investigators could not determine whether the sky glow was atmospheric in origin or was merely cloud-reflected light emitted by a glowing sea. In addition, circular and irregularly shaped lights of white, yellow, red, and blue were videotaped for several minutes near the earthquake epicenter on 25 July, as well as farther to the west, near where the fault line ends, on 16 August (Erkmen, 2001). Barka's (1999) report of “a ball of flame and the sound of an explosion” at the time of the earthquake was later explained as being due to sea mine explosions and to oil refinery fires, although the peculiar “balloons of strong light coming out of the sea” for several days afterward are still under investigation (E. Erkmen, personal communication, 2003). The various lights were widely reported throughout the Turkish media. The sky coloration and the anomalous lights recall a long attested, but poorly understood, epiphenomenon of large earthquakes called “earthquake lights” (Derr, 1973, 1986). Although there are many suggested causes of earthquake lights, the phenomenon in the Izmit instance might conceivably be attributed to an explosion of ground-sequestered methane (marsh gas) (Barka, 1999) or …

Bog ground aquifer system as a natural analogue for future redox conditions in flooded underground mines

To characterize the future redox milieu caused by natural degradation of wood in flooded mines, the aquifer of a highland bog ground was studied as a natural analogue site. Going from the surface to a depth of one meter in the bog water, the redox potential measured with a platinum electrode changes from 593 mV to −95 mV. From the depth-water analyses and analyses of bog gas extracted from the ground, an Eh value of −119±5 mV could be calculated. Methane and hydrogen sulfide were found in the gas, characterizing the strongly reducing condition in the bog ground. From that, the conclusion for the future mine situation can be drawn that uranium(VI) and arsenic(V) will be reduced and precipitated as U(OH)4 and As2S3. In that way, decontamination of the mine water takes place as a consequence of a natural attenuation process.

Marsh gas in shallow soils and safety measures for tunnel construction

Marsh gas is a danger for tunnelling through soils in Shanghai. Predrilling can assess the hazard and help to vent the gas. Additional measures include tunneling with an airproof shield, adequate ventilation, special precautions against ignition and education of the workers.

Jelly Belly® Jelly Beans & Evolutionary Principles in the Classroom: Appealing to the Students' Stomachs

Presentations in the classroom usually focus on only two senses: sight and sound. Science educators have expanded the emphasis on these traditional methods by including laboratory or field environments in their educational portfolios. In these latter locations, teaching is more effective and learning is made relevant by handson experiences. Often this realm incorporates a third sense (touch, e.g. slimy worms) or even a fourth (smell, e.g. marsh gas) to promote learning. Unfortunately our fifth sense, taste, is rarely employed as a learning tool in the biological sciences. Taste can be used as an effective learning tool in the classroom, particularly when illustrating the ecological significance of predation. Students make great predators and can be counted upon to eat at almost any time. Taste can be incorporated with sight and sound to enhance the learning experience. Students clearly have taste preferences, and I have used this to my advantage when illustrating any number of ecological concepts, particularly when food, foraging, predator or prey species are discussed. The prey species used in my classroom is the Jelly Belly jelly bean. Jelly Bellies not only come in different colors, they have a wide range of distinctive and unique flavors (40 in all) that can be counted upon to entice or discourage predatory students. These two features can be used to illustrate specific biological adaptations whenever taste or color (e.g. mimicry, camouflage) choices are made by predators or prey. Both features can be combined to extend the concept to a more complex

Encyclopedia of environmental science

Encyclopedia of environmental science

HOT PICKS

Chem history. You can read Benjamin Franklin's musings on the flammability of marsh gas, a 1921 Niels Bohr paper on electronic configurations, and much more at this cache of classic chemistry papers. The linked home page, Classic Chemistry, also serves up weekly history highlights and a dictionary of archaic chemistry terms. maple.lemoyne.edu/∼giunta/papers.html

Phosphine in the Urban Air of Beijing and Its Possible Sources

Both as an air pollutant and as a gaseous component of the local phosphorus cycle, phosphine (PH3) was found in the urban air of Beijing. Other possible sources, like paddy fields and water reservoirs, were selected for testing the hypothesis of the biological phosphine formation. Phosphine in the urban air of Beijing was measured in different seasons. In the summertime phosphine levels typically peak in the early morning and then decline towards noon. The maximum concentration at 6.00 am was 65 ng m−3 whilst that at noon was 11 ng m−3. In spring and in wintertime, the phosphine levels in the urban air of Beijing were lowest. A first screening revealed phosphine also in gas and in sediment samples from a paddy field near Beijing, the Beijing Shisanling water reservoir, and the refuse tips Changping of Beijing as well as in the ambient air adjacent to these sampling sites. The maximum phosphine concentrations in these gas samples were 41 (marsh gas, paddy field), 135 (marsh gas, reservoir), 1062 (landfillgas) ng m−3, and in the ambient air samples 146 (air, paddy field), 166 (air, reservoir), and 71 (air, refuse tips) ng m−3. In sediment samples, the highest matrix-bound phosphine levels were 13 (paddy field), and 3.9 (reservoir) ng kg−1. These comparatively high concentrations of the readily oxidizable phosphine in air indicate hitherto unknown but important phosphorus emission sources, which might reduce the biomass growth in Chinese fields and forests by a general phosphorus limitation. Phosphine is also a constituent of the air pollution in China. However, more work has to be done to evaluate the different sources of atmospheric phosphine.

IN PURSUIT OF A DREAM — SOME ACHIEVEMENTS, FAILURES, HOPES AND DISAPPOINTMENTS IN AUSTRALIA'S UPSTREAM PETROLEUM INDUSTRY

Historically, Australia's oil explorers have been dreamers. They have endured numerous setbacks along the road to eventual vindication of their beliefs. Some problems stemmed from outright shysters, others from well-intentioned but misguided meddlers, and some from professional disbelievers who felt the country was too old to contain oil. Public subscriptions and sympathy were lost by chasing sprites like marsh gas and coorongite (recent algal matter) and putting faith in diviners.Through it all there has been a parade of 'hit and miss' explorers who left a lot of information in the ground, but who at least had the determination to try.Like so much in Australia it took a national crisis to bring support in the form of government subsidies for exploration. Despite faults, the schemes encouraged activity and included the pioneering scientific work of the Bureau of Mineral Resources. The advent of war also brought with it technology to strengthen the search.Then came the long-awaited success, public support and a welding of small explorers to oil majors. There was also the start of productive dissemination of information and ideas through organisations like APEA and PESA.But when discovery rates declined again, disbelievers returned and many explorers now have taken their eyes off the goal. They are content to shuffle permits instead of drilling wells and have returned to diversions like poor prospectivity and attacks on taxation on which to blame their declining activity.Only a few see that the course for Australia's oil future is to blend modern technology with the determination of the pioneers and recapture the dream of old.

A model of oil-generation in a waterlogged and closed system

This paper presents a new model on synthetic effects on oil-generation in a waterlogged and closed system. It is suggested based on information about oil in high pressure layers (including gas dissolved in oil), marsh gas and its fermentative solution, fermentation processes and mechanisms, gaseous hydrocarbons of carbonate rocks by acid treatment, oil-field water, recent and ancient sediments, and simulation experiments of artificial marsh gas and biological action. The model differs completely from the theory of oil-generation by thermal degradation of kerogen but stresses the synthetic effects of oil-generation in special waterlogged and closed geological systems, the importance of pressure in oil-forming processes, and direct oil generation by micro-organisms. Oil generated directly by micro-organisms is a particular biochemical reaction. Another feature of this model is that generation, migration and accumulation of petroleum are considered as a whole.

An occurrence of marsh gas in deccan traps (Basalt) in central India

During the course of groundwater exploration in the upper catchment of Betwa River basin in Madhya Pradesh, Central India, marsh gas at a depth of 171.33 m below ground level (bgl) has been observed bubbling out of the flowing water. The results of gas analysis reveal the presence of 88% methane and 2.08% helium. Water is of sodium chloride type and possesses a high concentration of fluoride and low concentrations of nitrate and sulphate. Tritium analysis of deep groundwater indicates a value of 2.8 T.U., indicating pre-1953 storage with possible traces of modern contamination, which may have been introduced during well construction. It is believed that an occurrence of marsh gas in Deccan Traps has not been reported earlier.

Helium and methane anomalies in domestic well waters in southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada, and their relationship to other dissolved constituents, oil and gas fields, and tectonic patterns

During the summer of 1976 a regional groundwater survey was undertaken in an area of 18,000 km2 in southwestern Saskatchewan. Approximately 940 domestic wells and springs were sampled at a density of 1 per 13 km2, where possible. The samples were analyzed for up to 30 variables, including He, CH4, and many trace and minor elements. The results of the survey are related to regional topographic, geological, and hydrological features. Of particular interest are CH4 and He anomalies associated with known gas and oil reservoirs in the region. Several anomalies of similar magnitude occur away from known reservoirs and hence may point to new ones. The close association of CH4 with He, sample depth and deeper “softer” waters, as indicated by the positive correlations of CH4 with He, Na, CO2−3, HCO−3 and sample depth is postulated to be a good criterion for distinguishing between reservoir CH4 and marsh gas. The coincidence of CH4 and He anomalies with known tectonic features also indicates fracture leakage from depth and the possible existence of oil and gas fields. Regional surveys of domestic well waters can be of use in delineating areas with proven and potential oil and gas reservoirs at depth.

On the Origin of Petroleum Hydrocarbon Gases

Abstract The compositional variation of oil‐soluble gaseous hydrocarbons in high‐pressure in‐place oil from more than 40 oil wells in the Northern Jiangsu oil field, China, was studied. Samples in which the effects of the factors of pressure and biodegradation had been got rid of were chosen as the representatives that could really reflect the original composition of hydrocarbon gases. Such samples were compared compositionally with their corresponding hydrocarbons formed by decarboxylation of volatile low‐molecular fatty acids. Thus highly correlative regularities were found to exist between them. The numerical values of both are graphically expressed. The two curves on the diagram are very similar. These two sets of values have a simple correlation coefficient of 0.9935, which presents their genetic relation.Based on the study of the formation of gaseous hydrocarbons from decarboxylation of volatile fatty acids, the following regularities of the isomers are revealed:1) n‐butyric acid + isobutyric acid = propane;2) 1 2 isopentanoic acid (2‐methyl‐butyric acid) + n‐pentanoic acid = n‐butane; and3) 1.2 isopentanoic acid (3‐methyl‐butyric acid) = isobutane.The thermodynamics of decarboxylation was analysed and the enthalpy change ΔH, entropy change ΔS and Gibbs free energy change AG in the following reaction were calculated:CH3COOH(l)—CH4(g) + CO2(g).Thus the author considers that the reaction for the formation of hydrocarbons due to the decarboxylation of fatty acids is an exothermic one with increased entropy and decreased free energy as well as a spontaneous one. According to the CRC rule, the resultant Gibbs free energy change Δ G is approximately −41.84 kJ/mol, which is well within the range of the energy levels of biophysiological changes.According to the changes in odd‐carbon preference in n‐alkanes of petroleum and sediments and the analysis of fatty acids and amino acids, it is considered that hydrocarbon gases do not originate from pyrolysis or thermal degradation but from decarboxylation of organisms. But this biological reaction is not ordinary biochemical reaction in the artificial fermentation for generating marsh gas. On the basis of the change tendency of the fatty acid content in the fermentation liquor for marsh gas generation and the change tendency of the carbon isotopes in methane and carbon dioxide in the marsh gas, it can be judged that the biochemical reaction for forming hydrocarbon gases is a special biological one occurring after the fermentation.

Ruminant Methane δ( 13 C/ 12 C) Values: Relation to Atmospheric Methane

The delta(13C/12C)--values of methane produced by fistulated steers, dairy cattle, and wethers, and dairy and beef cattle herds show a bimodal distribution that appears to be correlated with the plant type (C3 or C4, that is, producing either a three- or a four-carbon acid in the first step of photosynthesis) consumed by the animals. These results indicate that cattle and sheep, on a global basis, release methane with an average delta(13C/12C) value of -60 and -63 per mil, respectively. Together they are a source of atmospheric methane whose delta(13C/12C) is similar to published values for marsh gas and cannot explain the 20 per mil higher values for atmospheric methane.

On the language of information science

1. <u>Lavoisier and The Nomenclature of Chemistry.</u> As a science matures, the language used by its practitioners evolves. Hogben (1) describes the evolution of the language of several sciences. Of particular interest is his description of the evolution of the language of chemistry. The clarity of thinking in chemistry, and the progress in the field took a sharp upturn after Lavoisier introduced revolutionary changes in the system of chemical nomenclature. Before Lavoisier, substances were generally known by names that might be called recipes or histories; somebody's notion or recollection of how they first encountered the substance. Methane was known as marsh gas, because it was first found bubbling up through the mud of marshes, as a result of the decay of organic materials under the mud. Hydrochloric acid was known as muriatic acid, from muria, the Latin name for brine, a common source of hydrochloric acid. Muria, in turn, comes from mare, Latin for sea. Chlorine was known to sixteenth century chemists and alchemists as dephlogisticated muriatic acid. The original process by which chlorine was manufactured, and still a common process, is by oxidation of the hydrogen in hydrochloric acid. Since oxidation was not yet understood at that time, it was called dephlogistication -- removal of the phlogiston. Lavoisier's new nomenclature describes substances not by their surmised origin, but by their present content, structure and condition.

Minor sources of air pollutant emissions.

Emission source inventories for air pollutants have considered major categories such as transportation, domestic heating, electric power generation, refuse burning, industrial fuel consumption and process emissions, as well as commercial, institutional, and governmental space heat fuel burning. Not considered in such emission inventories are sources such as aerosol spray can, ground dust, leaf burning, cosmic dust, crop dusting, perfumes, smoking, marsh gas, and tire tread wear. This paper investigates and evaluates such minor emissions on a population density or land area basis. These minor pollutant sources have been overlooked in the past because of their assumed negligible emissions. It is shown, however, that minor sources of air pollutants normally not included in an emission inventory do contribute to the total pollution burden of an area. In areas where particulate emissions are important, natural sources of dust, sea salt, cigarette smoking, cigar smoking, spray can aerosol, foot wear use, and rubber from tire abrasion should be evaluated. In areas where photochemical air pollution is a major problem organic compounds from vegetation must be considered in the evaluation of the problem. Great strides have been made in the development of factors to be used in the calculation of air pollutant source emissionmore » inventories. It is suggested that emphasis should be also directed toward a more extensive study of minor sources of air pollutant emissions. 24 references, 1 table.« less

A Sorcery Hunt in Dagomba

Opening ParagraphI do not know what events led up to the sorcery hunt in Savelugu, but in Nanton the sorcerer-finders came on the invitation of the Nantonlana. His invitation was given because, it is said, much sorcery was about. The only certain sign of it that I know is that sorcerer's fire was seen at night. Though I have seen this phenomenon three times I do not know what it is. It travels at thirty to forty feet above the ground at considerable speed, flashing on and off, sometimes as bright as a bicycle lamp. It may be a large firefly, though it does not resemble any firefly I have seen close to. In Konkomba country I thought (though I never saw it there) that it might be an effect of marsh gas. Here in Nanton I do not know what it may be.

石炭防爆輸送(日本航海学会第24回講演会)

Recently explosions of Virginia coals which are carrying as North American liner's homeward base cargo occur about ten times. After investigation of the events we found them as marsh gas explosions. We examined the data of Virginia coal carrying condition on board of Philippine-Maru. We find two course for anti-explosion of coal-negative and positive. For positive course ventilation is almost only way for anti-explosion of coal. We find the way of ventilation by the model of hatch test.