Coal Properties and Utilization

Coalbed methane research examines how natural gas trapped within coal seams can be extracted, while also exploring whether those same seams can safely store carbon dioxide as a way to offset emissions from fossil fuel use. Central to this work is understanding coal's physical architecture — its pore structure, permeability, and capacity to adsorb methane — since these properties vary considerably across coal ranks and determine how much gas a seam holds and how readily it flows. Low-rank coals, which were once considered poor candidates for gas recovery, have drawn growing attention as researchers find that microbial activity can generate fresh methane within them long after their formation. Open questions persist around how CO2 injection alters coal permeability over time, how to predict and prevent spontaneous combustion during mining, and how geological variability across a reservoir affects the practical economics of enhanced recovery.

Works

36,500

Total citations

488,676

Keywords

Coalbed MethaneCO2 SequestrationCoal PermeabilityMethane AdsorptionPore StructureLow-Rank Coals