Coalbed methane is a form of natural gas that is naturally present in coal beds. It presents a serious safety risk for underground coal mining, but in recent decades it has become an important source of natural gas in many countries such as the United States. It is different from typical gas reservoirs as it is adsorbed into the bed of coal itself, lining the pores of the coal, and is released by reducing the pressure in the bed.
To extract the gas, wells are drilled into the coal seam and water is pumped out of the well. This decreases the pressure and allows the methane to desorb from the coal and flow to the surface where it is captured. The water recovered is either reinjected into the well, released into streams, used for irrigation, or many other uses. The methane is compressed and piped to market.
Being able to measure the oxygen content of the gas produced is important to determine if there are any leaks in your system, and to ensure your natural gas is up to the quality you desire. Since this application deals with explosive gases, some form of hazardous area classification is often required for analytical equipment. Our OMD-625 The analyzer comes with ATEX and IECEx certification for use in Ex db ib IIB+H2 T4 Gb hazardous areas.
