Duration of the project:
01.07.2017 - 30.06.2020
Contact person:
dr hab. Przemysław Bukowski
e-mail: pbukowski@gig.eu
tel. 32 259 23 39
The Central Mining Institute has commenced the co-realisation of project “Methane recovery and harnessing for energy and chemical uses at coal mine sites”, acronym: METHENERGY +, directed by the team from the University of Oviedo in Spain.
Its goal is the development of methods for increasing the efficiency of utilising ventilation air methane extracted from operational mines, as well as extracting and utilising the methane from closed hard coal mines in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin. The part of the project realised and directed by GIG will make use of various research methods employed primarily in geology, hydrogeology and geomechanics, including studies of processes related to the flooding of mines and the accumulation of methane in mine workings, as well as innovative study methods of the surrounding rock at laboratory scale, using one-of-a-kind research apparatus. Hydrogeological studies and the assessment of free methane reserves in decommissioned mines, leading to the optimisation of future methane extraction and utilisation processes, will be supported by computer modelling methods. Project tasks will encompass methane flow and concentration assessments under various geological conditions and mining plant operations, as well as the development of the most efficient possible separation process of factors utilised both in the direct methane combustion process and in the production of chemical substances such as hydrogen or methanol. An integrated approach to the utilisation optimisation of ventilation air methane and its full recovery will be proposed as a result of the realisation of the project. The project is being carried out as part of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel by an international consortium of eleven entities from Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, Czechia, Greece, Slovenia and Sweden.
