1、coalmine methane in China 1. Chinese CMM distribution 1.1Chinese coalmines There are various coalmines in China. These coalmines can be roughly divided into three categories: large (with annual output of 5 million tons and above), medium (with annual output of 500,000 tons5 million tons) and small (
2、with annual output of 30,00050,000 t) The shares of large, medium and small coalmines in China were 49%, 12% and 39% by 2007. There are 14 open mining coalmines with an output of over 10 million tons each per year. There are 219 high-efficiency coalmines with total output of 705 million tons. Major
3、coal production in China (98%) was achieved by machines. China has 28 share-traded coal mining enterprises with total share value of Yuan 15.21 billion (USD 2.2 billion) . By the end of 2007, the number of coalmines with a minimum annual output of 300,000 tons each amounted to 7066, thirty-three of
4、which had an annual production of 10 million tons each in 2007. These large coalmines produced 1.1 billion tons, or 45% of Chinas total output. The number of coalmines will increase in the next few years. According to the government projection , coal demand in China in 2010 will be over 3 billion to
5、ns per year. To meet this demand, China needs to develop new coalmines. The country had a production capacity of 2.5 billion in 2008. Currently, a production capacity of 1.1 billion tons is under construction. In the meantime, the government has approved 0.2 billion tons of production capacity. Taki
6、ng into account the retirement of old coalmines in the future, by 2010, China will have coal production capacity of 3.1 billion tons that will balance its coal demand. If the average production capacity of a new coalmine is the same as the current one, the number of Chinas coalmines will increase by
7、 24% in the next two or three years. 1.2Chinas coal methane distributions China has a reserve of Coal -related methane resources at a amount of 31.5 trillion cubic meters at depth between 300 and 2000 m underground. These resources can be grouped into two parts in terms of the depth of the resources
8、 buried. Coal -related methane resources underground at a depth from 300 to 1500 m reached over 19 trillion cubic meters or over 60% of Chinas coal -related methane. See Table 1.1. Currently, most CMM recovery activities in China take place to recover methane in this range of depth Table 1.1 Distrib
9、ution of coal-related methane resources in different depths Buried depth (meters) Resource quantity (trillion cubic meters) Percentage (%) 3001500 19.08 60.65 1501-2000 12.38 39.35 Toal 31.46 100 1.2.1 Northeast China region (R1) The northeast region consists of three provinces: Heilongjiang, Jilin
10、and Liaoning. The coal strata in this region were formed primarily in Cretaceous and Tertiary system, and secondly in CarboniferousPermian system. The early Cretaceous coal basins are well developed and can bear high concentration of methane. In the Tertiary system, only Fushun Basin in this region
11、has higher-rank coal such as long-flame coal and gas coal with good methane-bearing properties, while all other basins contain only lignitouscoal with low methane content. The coal beds formed in CarboniferousPermian system exist only the south part of the methane-bearing region. The thickness of co
12、al seams in these coal beds does not change significantly, and coalmethane-bearing properties are relatively better. The methane resources distribute mainly in Heilongjiang Province and Liaoning Province. In these two provinces, there are some rich methane belts such as SanjiangMulinghe belt, Hunjia
13、ngLiaoyang belt and West Liaoning belt. 1.2.2North China region (R2) North China region covers Provinces of Hebei, Shangdong, Henna and Anhui. It is located in the east side of Taihang Mountain, ranging from Qinling tectonic belt in the west, to the Jiaolu fault belt in the east, from the southern b
14、oundary of LiaoningJilinHeilongjiang region in the NorthEast China, to the east section of QinlingDabieshan belt in the South. Coal strata are mainly CarboniferousPermian system, with a little part in MiddleLower Jurassic Petroleum system. The coal strata in the CarboniferousPermian system in this r
15、egion spread widely over a large sedimentation area, with stable coal seams and good coal methane-bearing properties. As there are many districts with favorable exploration and exploitation prospects, the methane recovery activities are very active in this region, and some outstanding progresses hav
16、e been achieved in Kailuan, Dacheng, Huaibei and Huinan coalmines. 1.2.3South China region (R3) The South China region is located in the vast land ranging from QinlingDabieshan fold belt in the North and from Wuling Mountain tectonic belt in the West, including most part of Southeast and South China
17、. Coal strata in this region are mainly in the late Permian system. Only little part of late Permian coalfields are preserved well, with relatively stable coal seams and good methane-bearing properties. The methane resources in this region are concentrated mainly in Jiangxi and Hunan Provinces, with abundant coal methane resources, especially in Pingle and Xiangzhong belts. 2Review of Chinas CMM recovery and utilization 2.1History of Chinese coalmine methane use
