Evaluation of the Presence of Methane in Zloczew Lignite: Comparison with Other Lignite Deposits in Poland

Catastrophic cases of methane explosion during exploratory drilling within the Belchatow ortholignite deposit have led to testing for methane in other Polish ortholignite mining areas, as well as in the Zloczew deposit, where it is planned to begin mining operations. Initial tests have shown Zloczew lignite to have the highest methane content among the Polish deposits so far studied, comparable with lignite from the Belchatow deposit, with a methane capacity in excess of 2.5 dcm(3)/kg at a pressure of 10 bar. Based on the computed values of the Langmuir constant, a determination was made of the quantity of methane that can be desorbed from a pressure of 10 bar to 1 bar, as well as the residual methane content. For all of the tested samples, the residual methane content is between 30 and 50% of the sorption capacity at a pressure of 10 bar. The thermal sorption equations were used to compute values of the limiting isosteric heat of adsorption. Higher values of the heat of adsorption at zero surface capacity may indicate the presence of a small quantity of micro-pores. In the case of the samples with the highest sorption capacity, the limiting isosteric heats of adsorption are low, indicating a low proportion of micro-pores in the lignite. This was confirmed by tests of nitrogen adsorption at 77 K. The proportion of micro-pores in the studied lignites is 2-3%, while the dominant pore fraction is the meso-pores, which in lignite from the Zloczew and Belchatow deposits account for 50-66% of total pores. It is concluded that the significant adsorption of methane in the ortholignite occurs chiefly in meso-pores because of compression of the gas under increased orogenic pressure. A link is made between the higher methane-bearing capacity of the ortholignite deposits and the degree of gelification of the huminite components, based on simple statistical correlations between the methane sorption capacity and the content of humic gelified maceral. The results concerning methane sorption in lignite from the Zloczew deposit have enabled a preliminary classification of the methane-bearing capacity of Polish ortholignite deposits, which may also be of significance for similar deposits in other countries.