Biogenic gas generation effects on anthracite molecular structure and pore structure

doi:10.1007/s11707-021-0925-6

Front. Earth Sci.

2021, Vol. 15

Issue (2) : 272-282 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-021-0925-6

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Biogenic gas generation effects on anthracite molecular structure and pore structure

Aikuan WANG^1,²(

), Pei SHAO³, Qinghui WANG^1,²

¹. Key Laboratory of Coalbed Methane Resources & Reservoir Formation Process (Ministry of Education), China University of Mining & Technology, Xuzhou 221008, China
². School of Resources and Geosciences, China University of Mining & Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
³. Department of Surveying and Planning, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu 476000, China

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Abstract

This study carries out a simulated experiment of biogenic gas generation and studies the effects of gas generation on the pore structure and molecular structure of anthracite by mercury intrusion porosimetry, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The results show that methanogenic bacteria can produce biogenic gas from anthracite. CO₂ and CH₄ are the main components of the generated biogas. After generation, some micropores (<10 nm) and transitional pores (10–100 nm) in the coal samples transform into large pores. In the high-pressure stage (pressure>100 MPa) of the mercury intrusion test, the specific surface area decreases by 19.79% compared with that of raw coal, and the pore volume increases by 7.25% in total. Microbial action on the molecular structure causes changes in the pore reconstruction. The FT-IR data show that the side chains and hydroxyl groups of the coal molecular structure in coal are easily metabolized by methanogenic bacteria and partially oxidized to form carboxylic acids. In addition, based on the XRD data, the aromatic lamellar structure in the coal is changed by microorganisms; it decreases in lateral size (La) and stacking thickness (Lc). This study enriches the theory of biogenic coalbed gas generation and provides a pathway for enhancing the permeability of high-rank coal reservoirs.

Keywords biogenic gas anthracite pore structure molecular structure

Corresponding Author(s): Aikuan WANG

Online First Date: 15 October 2021 Issue Date: 26 October 2021

Cite this article:

Aikuan WANG,Pei SHAO,Qinghui WANG. Biogenic gas generation effects on anthracite molecular structure and pore structure[J]. Front. Earth Sci., 2021, 15(2): 272-282.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/10.1007/s11707-021-0925-6
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/Y2021/V15/I2/272

Tab.1 Test data of basic properties of coal samples

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of the simulation experiment device.

Fig.2 The overall experimental procedure of the study.

Tab.2 Production and contents of biogas during different stages

Fig.3 The changes in the simulated gas production and gas composition during the experiment. (a) Change in the production of biogas of the anthracite samples; (b) change in gas compositions of all groups.

Fig.4 Mercury intrusion and extrusion curves of the samples.

Fig.5 XRD patterns of coal samples. (a) Raw coal samples; (b) after biogenic gas generation.

Fig.6 Infrared spectrogram of coal samples

Tab.3 The pore volume and specific surface area distributions of each pore segment of the samples

Fig.7 Relation diagrams of stage mercury intrusion (a) and stage pore area (b) with pore diameters of raw and experimental coal samples after biodegradation.

Tab.4 Peak fitting results of XRD peak parameters of coal samples

Tab.5 FI-IR parameters and their meanings of coal structure

Fig.8 Schematic diagram of the effect of biogenic coalbed gas generation on anthracite pore structure and molecular structure.

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