CONSOL Energy Progresses Coal Mine Ventilation Air Methane Abatement Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--With two coal mine ventilation air methane (VAM) abatement projects in various stages of development, CONSOL Energy Incorporated (NYSE:CNX) (Canonsburg, Pennsylvania) hopes to decrease the size of its carbon footprint in the U.S. and perhaps set a standard for the coal-mining industry in the process.

Coal mines currently control underground methane emissions through the use of ventilation systems, which circulate large quantities of fresh air through the mine to dilute the methane, and then exhaust the VAM to the surface of the mine and to the atmosphere. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, VAM represents the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. coal mines.

On December 7, 2010, at the "West Virginia: Maintaining Energy Leadership" energy summit, Director of Research Services Richard Winschel gave a presentation detailing how CONSOL's greenhouse gas footprint is mostly methane. VAM represents 91% of the 25.5 billion cubic feet of methane emitted by CONSOL in 2006. In his presentation, Winschel said it "appears likely that under future U.S. law, coal-mine methane will either be an allowable 'offset' or subject to a performance standard."

Regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) technology is an industrial process used for pollution control. The fan carries VAM from the mine shaft to the RTO unit. From there, the VAM enters the RTO through a medium bed to a pre-heated oxidation chamber. It will treat mine exhaust air by using a bed of ceramic material to absorb heat from the exhaust gas and use the captured heat to preheat the incoming process gas stream. The ceramic medium bed is heated to 1,832 Fahrenheit with either a propane burner or an electrical heater. Ventilation air is forced through the bed, methane is oxidized, and the released heat is recovered by the ceramic bed. Air flow is reversed every two minutes, and the heat that is recovered in the first cycle heats the incoming ventilation air to oxidation temperature.

It was announced in January 2010 that CONSOL and Green Holdings Enlow Incorporated (New York, New York), a greenhouse gas abatement company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Green Holdings Corporation, had entered into a joint venture to develop a VAM emission abatement project at CONSOL's 11.1 million-ton-per-year Enlow Fork coal mine, the largest underground mine in the U.S., which is near West Finley, Pennsylvania, in both Washington and Green counties.

The project's scope includes the construction and installation of a 150,000-cubic-foot-per-minute regenerative thermal oxidation (RTO) VAM abatement system to capture and destroy methane released during the mining process, which would otherwise escape into the atmosphere through the mine's ventilation system. It would require three RTO units capable of processing 50,000 square feet per minute of VAM, with methane concentration between 0.5% and 1.2%. It would reduce 190,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year by destroying up to 95% of the mine's VAM. For additional information, see February 2, 2010, article - CONSOL, Green Holdings Develop Largest U.S. Coal Mine Ventilation Air Methane Abatement Project in Pennsylvania.

CONSOL officials claim the project has been significantly delayed--almost to a halt--because of major permitting issues at both the federal and state level, including the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Because of the delays, no construction or supplier contracts have been granted at this time.

While the Enlow Fork VAM project has been postponed, work already has begun on CONSOL's second planned VAM abatement project at its 9.9 million-ton-per-year McElroy Mine in Marshall County, near Glen Easton, West Virginia.

Plans to develop the McElroy project actually began after the Enlow Fork project was announced, but were able to come to fruition much faster. CONSOL officials believe this may be due to Pennsylvania having stricter environmental guidelines than West Virginia.

In June 2010, CONSOL joined forces with Verdeo Group Incorporated (Washington, D.C.), a leading provider of capital and project development solutions to mining and oil and gas companies, to develop a 160,000-cubic-foot-per-minute regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) VAM abatement system at CONSOL's McElroy mine.

CONSOL indicates most contracts for the McElroy VAM abatement project have been awarded, but interested contractors and suppliers need to contact CONSOL's Research and Development office or Ohio Valley Operations to be considered for any portion of this project not yet awarded. Site prep construction began last fall. The shaft has been dug and the mine's bleeder fan is being installed. The RTO unit will be provided by Dürr Ecoclean Incorporated USA (Bowling Green, Ohio), a subsidiary of Dürr Aktiengesellschaft (DUE:Xetra) (Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany). CONSOL and Verdeo hope to have the bleeder fan online by the end of the first quarter and the entire project completed by June 2011.

The projects, estimated to cost about $5 million each, include modifications to the mine's existing ventilation system, as well as installing VAM abatement equipment that will capture and destroy methane gas released during the mining process, which would otherwise escape into the atmosphere through the mine's ventilation system. Some equipment to be installed include a VAM unit, although specifications differ depending on vendor chosen; a methane analyzer; a thermal flow reversal reactor to be interfaced with the coal mine ventilation fan; and a two-bed modular system that processes 50,000 to 60,000 cubic feet per minute or greater.

Industrial Info has been tracking these projects January 27, 2010.

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