A meeting at the Central Mining Institute has officially opened project MEGA+: Methane production from deep European coal deposits in connected coal deposit methane recovery processes and underground coal gasification.
Its main objective is the development of technology principles for the extraction of deep coal deposits, over 900m underground. This technology will involve coal-bed methane (CBM) recovery in connection with a subsequent high-pressure underground coal gasification (UCG) process, with the intent to produce substitute natural gas (SNG).
The project is realised using funds from the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, while the consortium partners include GIG and Polska Grupa Górnicza SA from Poland, the TATA Steel UK company, the Cardiff University and the Imperial College London from Great Britain, the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals from Czechia, the GFZ Research Centre from Germany and the INERIS institute from France.
The novelty of the project is based on combining coal-bed methane (CBM) recovery technology with a high-pressure process (UCG-SNG) using common underground and aboveground infrastructure. Specialist studies will be carried out concerning the utilisation of the catalyst activity of UCG process ash components in syngas methanation reactions. Grand-scale laboratory tests of coal underground gasification, including anthracites, will be conducted as well. The experimental work will be performed using the CCTW research infrastructure, including a high-pressure (5 MPa) installation for UCG process studies under laboratory conditions. Technical, economic and environmental conditions for the realisation of CBM-UCG processes in deep deposits will be determined for three selected model areas in Poland (Upper Silesian Coal Basin), Germany (Ruhr Valley) and Great Britain.
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