Gas Engines - Coal Mine Gas Solutions

When coal is mined underground, the released methane gas forms a highly explosive mixture when combined with air. This mine gas not only poses a major threat to the safety of miners, but also has enormous potential to contribute to global warming when released into the atmosphere. When harnessed properly for power and heat generation, the potential danger of coal mine gas (CMG) and methane emissions is greatly reduced. Since the early 1990s, GE’s Jenbacher gas engines have provided solutions for this special application with an installed capacity of more than 400 MW running on coal mine gas worldwide.

How it works

Today, most large underground hard coal mines provide a potential for coal mine methane and abandoned mine methane and can be effectively used for power and heat generation with gas engines.

Sudden changes in the composition of CMG put greater demands on the engine. GE offers a special gas mixing and engine control system that enables efficient use of this gas to a minimum CH4-concentration of only 25 percent.

Additionally, GE’s Jenbacher gas engines are designed to operate on full load, despite low gas pressure, high humidity, dust load, and altitude.

The generated energy can be used in the coal mine to meet electricity requirements or fed into the public power grid. Thermal energy can be used for onsite heating or fed into a district heating system.

Features & Benefits

  • Increased worker safety due to installation or refurnishing of gas suction system
  • Mitigation of greenhouse gas (methane) and possible carbon monetization
  • Revenues for power and heat production, when fed into the public grid
  • Smooth operation despite fluctuations in gas pressure and methane content
  • Overall efficiency of up to 90 percent, in combined heat and power, and up to 43.5 percent in power generation alone
  • Compact units with lowest footprint requirement and dynamic weight
  • Basic design and support for gas conditioning if required
  • Contractual Service Agreements including specific preventive maintenance and remote services

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