The U.S. DOE sponsors a Coalbed Methane Outreach Program to encourage coal mines to recover and use or sell methane as a fuel. A DOE project is planning another installation that will use fuel cells. Because the methane from a coal seam is often mixed with air, it is typically unsuitable as a pipeline gas, which requires a concentration of about 94 percent. Oxygen and nitrogen dilute the coal bed gas until it is less than 50 percent methane. Dilution also occurs over time in coal seams where the methane is initially quite rich, but declines in Btu value over time.
Fuel cells can convert hydrocarbons into energy when they are too diluted for standard combustion.
The DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, W.Va., is sponsoring a program to determine the feasibility of feeding coal mine methane to fuel cells. The program involves building a 250-kilowatt fuel cell system at the Nelms mining complex operated by Harrison Mining Corp. in Cadiz, Ohio. The DOE awarded FuelCell Energy of Danbury, Conn., a contract for the project, and NorthWest Fuel Development Inc. of Lake Oswego, Ore., will be the site manager under a subcontract. Mining for Methane NorthWest Fuel Development will contribute its technique of extracting methane gas from active or abandoned coal mines and burning it as fuel. The company developed this expertise over the last 20 years with projects at Island Creek Coal Co.'s mines in Virginia, and Bethenergy mines in Pennsylvania.