Coalbed Methane Recovery and Utilization in the United States

摘要

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has a commitment to assist the private sector in the development of the commercial use of coalbed methane through the Coalbed Methane Project. This project is an intergral part of the Unconventional Gas Recovery (UGR) Program with lead responsibility assigned by the DOE Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy to the Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC). The DOE effort has been implemented as an integrated project, combining the research and development efforts of private industry, universities, and federal and state agencies to enhance the coalbed methane data base. The project goals are to estimate the extent of the resource with increased accuracy and reliability and to provide technically and economically viable means for methane recovery and utilization. The ultimate purpose of the project is to promote extensive private use of the resource as a source of national energy. To date, the major emphasis has been directed toward locating and estimating the magnitude of the resource, estimating the recoverable reserves, developing economical recovery systems and techniques, and demonstrating utilization in an appropriate manner. To ensure proper integration of ongoing activities, heavy emphasis is placed on project planning and review, tailored within the frameworks of the DOE Gas Resources Research, Development, and Demonstration Plan and the UGR Program Charter. DOE has made significant progress in the development of the technology data base. Major achievements produced by the project to date are discussed briefly in this report. Contents of this report include the following: introduction; resource research; recovery and utilization technology development; production constraints; technology assessment; appendices; and glossary of acronyms and abbreviations. 8 references, 20 figures, 9 tables. (ERA citation 09:027814)