Biogenic methane generation from coal and other geopolymers
An interdisciplinary study
Coalbed methane is a significant energy resource, currently accounting for about 10% of natural gas production in the USA. Coalbed methane can be either thermogenic or biogenic in origin. Once the methane in a coalbed is harvested, there is a potential for generating additional biogenic methane. However, little is yet known about the microbial process of generating secondary methane from coal, or the mechanisms that control the occurrence or rate of the process. A bioassay was developed to determine the amount of coal organic matter available for microbial conversion to methane. A microbial consortium (WBC-2) was shown to produce secondary biogenic methane from several samples of subbitumunous coal in laboratory experiments. WBC-2 is a mixed culture which includes bacteria capable of fermenting some of the complex organic structures in coal to methane precursors and methanogens that generate methane. The WBC-2 bioassay was used to compare the methane generating potential of 10 subbituminous coal samples from cores drilled in south Texas and the Powder River Basin, WY. The bioassay offers a new tool for assessing the potential of coal for secondary methane generation, and provides a platform for studying the mechanisms involved in this economically important activity.
Water Resources Discipline and Geologic Discipline … working together
Microbiology:
Mary Voytek (WRD)
Elizabeth Jones (WRD)
Julie Kirshtein (WRD)
Alexander Cohn (Grinnell College)
Joseph Bunnell (GD)
Organic Geochemistry:
Bill Orem (GD)
Terry Lerch (GD)
Margo Corum (GD)
Mary Jo Baedecker (WRD, Emeritus)
Coal Geology:
Peter Warwick (GD)
Art Clark (GD, Denver)
Pictures
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Margo and Julie discuss techniques |
Coal boring rig in South Powder Basin, Wyoming |
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Coal boring rig at dusk in Texas |
Margo and Julie filter and test newly-acquired coal |
