Skip to main content
Log in

Molecular Simulation on Competitive Adsorptions of CO2, CH4, and N2 in Deep Coal Seams

  • Published:
Chemistry and Technology of Fuels and Oils Aims and scope

In this paper we have simulated the competitive adsorption of CO2, CH4, and N2 gases in deep coal seams by building a graphite supercell structure and discussed the impact of pressure, pore size, and multicomponent composition on CH4 desorption. The results show that the adsorption capacity of a single component gas changes is in the order of CO2 > CH4> N2. For the CH4/CO2 competitive adsorption, absorbed CO2 can reach saturation at low pressure conditions. CO2 has an adsorptive advantage compared with CH4. It is shown that CO2 can promote the CH4 desorption by the displacement mechanism. For CH4/N2competitive adsorption, the adsorption capacity of N2 is weaker than that of CH4, demonstrating that improvement in coalbed methane (CBM) production by N2 injection is achieved by reducing the partial pressure and creating flow channels. The presence of H2O has a greater impact on the gas with a stronger adsorption capacity in the binary component system. For the CH/CO2/N2 competitive adsorption, the CO2 adsorption is dominant in 1 nm slit pores, while CH4 adsorption is dominant in 2 nm slit pores. This indicates that when the pore diameter increases, the CO2/N2 injection does not promote CH4 desorption. H2O also has a significant impact on the competitive adsorption in the ternary component system. The strong interaction between H2O and CO2 weakens the CO2 adsorption capacity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Z. H. Xie and S. J. Chen, “Effect of moisture and temperature to CH4 adsorption of coal,” J. Univ. Sci. Technol. Beijing (Suppl), 29, 42 (2007).

  2. K. Mosher, The impact of pore size on methane and CO2 adsorption in carbon, Master’s thesis, Stanford University, California, 2011.

  3. D. M. Ma, Research on the adsorption and desorption mechanism of coalbed methane, Doctoral thesis, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, 2008.

  4. P. G. Wang, Experimental study on adsorption and desorption characteristic of CBM at different temperatures, Master’s thesis, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, 2009.

  5. S. M. Guo, X. Q. Duan, and C. F. Xu, “Moisture content under coal reservoir condition study on the determination method of balance moisture,” J. Jiaozuo Inst. Technol. (Nat. Sci.), 23, 157 (2004).

  6. S. S. Gao, Y. B. Wang, L. L. Jia, X. H. Wang, and H. J. Wang, “Influence of temperature and pressure on the replacement of CH4 with CO2,” J. Chin. Univ. Min. Technol., 42, 801 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  7. J. G. Wu, J. P. Ye, and S. H. Tang, “A feasibility study on CO2 injection for enhancing the coalbed methane recovery,” Geol. J. Chin. Univ., 10, 463 (2004).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Z. M. Li, Q. C. Lv, S. Y. Li, B. F. Li, and Q. Sun, “A nitrogen foam fluid with low formation damage for CBM fracturing treatment,” J. Chin. Univ. Pet., 37, 100 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Q. J. Cheng, A. G. Hu, P. Xiong, T. T. Luo, and G. F. Li, “Properties of nitrogen foam fracturing fluid for CBM wells.” Appl. Chem. Ind., 40, 1675 (2011).

  10. J. P. Zhou, Adsorption-transport mechanism of CH4, CO2, N2 and their mixture in coalbed, Doctoral thesis, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 2010.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

Translated from Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Topliv i Masel, No. 4, pp. 74 – 79, July – August, 2020.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yang, Z., Yang, S., Han, J. et al. Molecular Simulation on Competitive Adsorptions of CO2, CH4, and N2 in Deep Coal Seams. Chem Technol Fuels Oils 56, 619–626 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10553-020-01175-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10553-020-01175-x

Keywords

Navigation