Origin of Coalbed Methane

Coalbed methane (CBM), or coalbed natural gas, is an unconventional natural gas in

coal that formed as: (1) thermogenic gas in high rank coals (bituminous to anthracite)
through the process of coalification at high temperatures, (2) biogenic gas in low rank
coals (subbituminous) generated by bacterial activity, and (3) secondary biogenic gas
accumulating in high rank coal (Rice, 1993; Faiz and Hendry, 2006; Flores, 2008). CBM
is comprised of 8898 % CH 4, which is generated in significant amounts (100300 m
3
/g of coal) during the coalification process (Rice, 1993), with minor amounts of CO 2
and N 2. Thus, the abundance of CH 4 popularized the CBM terminology. Heavy
hydrocarbons such as ethane, butane, propane, and pentane, are mainly associated
with the thermogenic gas. Average desorbed gas content in bituminous coal (919 m 3/t)
is higher than in subbituminous coal (14 m 3/t) (Creedy et al., 2001; Stricker et al.,
2006).

Storage and Flow of Gas and Water

Gases, such as CH 4 and CO 2 molecules and N 2, are attracted as monolayers by Van

der Waals, which is a weak force or bond, and adsorbed on surfaces of coal fractures or
cleats and pores such as micropore (<2 nm), mesopore (2-50 nm), and macropore
(>50nm) (Clarkson and Bustin, 1996) and held by groundwater hydrostatic pressure.
The pore sizes may control the amount of adsorbed CH 4, CO 2, and N 2 with molecular
diameters of 0.38, 0.33, and 0.36 nm, respectively. Average adsorption ratio of CH 4:CO
2 is about 1:14 in lignite, 1:10 in subbituminous coal, 1:3 in bituminous coal, and 1:2 in

semianthraciteanthracite coal which is why coals have excellent potential for CO 2

sequestration coupled with enhanced recovery of CBM especially in low rank coals.
Although molecular sizes of CH 4 and CO 2 appear similar, differences in molecular
diameters and shapes may control replacement of one molecule for the other.
Moreover, hydrostatic pressures must be maintained to hold gas in the coal, otherwise
CO 2 sequestration by molecular replacement of CH 4 is not possible.

Coal stores 67 times as much gas as conventional reservoirs of equal rock volume due
to the large internal surface area. About 98 % of the gas is stored in pores in the coal
matrix and about 2 % in coal fractures (Mavor and Nelson, 1997). Also, gas occurs as
solute in groundwater in the coal. Thus, a small amount of free gas from the fracture
system and gas solute is released during the initial dewatering of CBM wells to reduce
hydrostatic pressure in coal reservoirs. Gas diffusion occurs from pores through the coal
matrix, with the gas migrating into cleats where two-phase transport of gas and water is
governed by Darcys Law ( Figure. 1 ).
Gas flow in coal is controlled by permeability or connectivity of open fractures, which in
turn is mainly controlled by rank. Because fracture spacing is less in bituminous coal
than in subbituminous coal (Law, 1993), permeability in subbituminous coal is 11,000
md compared to 115 md in bituminous coal (Creedy et al., 2001).

Continuous dewatering, from a few days to months depending on the volume water in
the coal reservoir, creates local (i.e., borehole) and regional (i.e., several boreholes)
depressions of low hydrostatic pressure, which then causes gas and water to flow or
drain from high-pressure areas. Gas and water are separated in the borehole and both
are collected at the wellhead ( Figure. 2). Co-produced water is disposed, with or
without treatment, to: (1) ponds/lakes, streams/rivers, and wetlands on the surface; (2)
reinjected to groundwater aquifers; and/or (3) used for stock reservoirs, irrigation, and
domestic water supplies depending on chemical composition and trace elements of the
water (Rice et al., 2002). CBM co-produced water is composed of: (1) Na-HCO 3-Cl; (2)
total dissolved solids (200 to >170,000 milligrams per liter [mg/L]); (3) high Fe, Mn, and
NH 4; (4) low sulfate so barium is high; and (5) trace metals less than 1 mg/L (Rice and
Nuccio, 2000). Average daily water production per CBM well from subbituminous coal is
higher (60 m 3) than from bituminous coal (14 m 3) (Creedy and others, 2001). Ratio of
daily water and gas production per CBM well in subbituminous coal is about 1:95 m 3
and in bituminous coal is about 1:585 m 3.

Ascendance of CBM
CBM was long known from underground coal-mine explosions recorded in 18101845
in the United States and France, and which presently are still causing fatalities
worldwide (Flores, 1998). Methane degasification in U.S. coal mines was implemented
in 1940 as part of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act to improve ventilation
(Deul and Kim, 1986). During the 1970s coal-mine methane (CMM) in active
underground mines and abandoned mine methane (AMM) emerged as viable energy
sources; recovery of the overpressured gas also prevented outbursts, maintained safe
mine operations, generated electricity for mine equipment, and reduced greenhouse
gas emission. Commercial CBM production from unmined coal beds at shallow depths
(less than 1,000 m) was a fledging industry in the United States in the 1980s when the
U.S. Congress passed the Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax Act (Soot, 1988). This tax
incentive encouraged economic production of unconventional hydrocarbons like CBM,
with producers receiving $0.75$1.34 per million Btu of gas sold from the 1980s1990s.
This demonstrated the economic viability of CBM, which now accounts for 8 % of the
total gas production in the United States and subsequently promoted CBM development
worldwide. Presently, cumulative CBM production (more than 0.5 trillion m 3) in the
United States accounts for about 70 % of the worlds total cumulative production; the
remainder is mainly from Australia, Canada, and India. Great Britain, Germany, China,
Poland, and the Czech Republic lead in producing and utilizing CMM and AMM (Bibler
et al., 1998).

Success of CBM, CMM, and AMM as unconventional resources benefited from the
abundance of coal worldwide, with about 30 trillion tonnes of resource potentially
containing about 234 trillion m 3 of gas-in-place resources. Much of these resources are
accessible at shallow depths, making drilling and completion inexpensive compared to
conventional gas development, although modifications of conventional gas technologies
will facilitate development. In some countries where CBM is being explored, competing
interests of gas and coal mining industries have created contentious claims of
ownership of CBM, resulting in conflicts of leasing practices of coal and gas deposits.
Most of these countries ultimately followed and/or modified the opinion of the U.S.
Supreme Court Decision 1998-830P, which favored the gas industry.

Global emergence of CBM, CMM, and AMM is driven by high demand but low supply of
gas, which in the future are critical concerns for both developing and industrialized
countries. Natural emission of CH 4 from coal, with high global warming potential (56 in
20 years to 6.5 in 500 years; IPCC, 1996), contributes materially to global climate
change. In the future, reduction of CH 4 emissions, although shorter lived (123 years;
ICCP, 1966) in the atmosphere, will be as vital as reduction of CO 2 emissions to control
the global warming trend.
Figure 1. Flow chart of gas and water transport from coal matrix through cleat
fractures to the borehole during dewatering of a coal reservoir.

Figure 2. Managing surface discharge, reinjection, and reuse of co-produced

water from coalbed methane wells.