Design an ECBM system with methane recovery, electricity generation, and carbon sequestration for a coal field...

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Mechanical Engineering

Design an ECBM system with methane recovery, electricitygeneration, and carbon sequestration for a coal field with 17billion m3 methane capacity and a yield of 280 m3/tonne CO2sequestered. The methane (assume it is pure CH4 and ignoreimpurities) is delivered to an advanced technology-generating plantwhere it is mixed with a stream of pure oxygen to deliverelectricity for the grid, CO2 for sequestration, and water as aby-product. Of the energy available in the methane, 40% isdelivered to the grid in the form of electricity. The remainder isdissipated in losses in the plant and to supply energy needed forthe operation (methane, CO2 and water pumping, CO2 injection, andso on). All CO2 from the generating plant is injected into the coalfield, so that there are no emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere.Additional CO2 is transported by pipeline from other sourceslocated at a distance. The plant is planned to operate for 40 yearsat a constant output, after which all the methane will have beenwithdrawn. How much electricity does the plant produce per year?What is the net amount of CO2 sequestered, after taking intoaccount the fraction that is derived from carbon that was under theground in the first place?

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Sequestration options are presented in this chapter in increasing order of complexity but also in increasing order of potential for reliably and permanently sequestering carbon in unlimited quantities Geological sequestration may provide the optimal balance of high potential volume of sequestration and manageable life cycle cost and at the time of this writing it is also the option receiving the greatest research effort All discussion in the next several paragraphs assumes that our RD efforts can achieve mature sequestration technologies that function reliably and that meet required cost pertonne CO2 targets Indirect sequestration is limited by the amount of earth surface area available for planting of trees or possibly exploitation of smaller organisms that perform photosynthesis It may be possible to increase the yield of CO2 sequestered per square meter of area by using genetic engineering or creating some process to assist with the conversion of plant or tree activity into sequestered carbon but the potential is limited Nevertheless in the short run it should be exploited vigorously not only because of low cost but also because of ancillary benefits from forests Some questions remain at the present time about the permanence of geological CO2 sequestration including the possibility of leaks from some reservoirs if the practice is used on a large scale and the concern over See Answer

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