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Environmental protection - using mine gas
March 09, 2000The gigantic system of tunnels created by the extensive mining of coal beneath the Ruhr area in recent centuries not only leads to subsidence (as in the dramatic incident in Wattenscheid early this year). At certain times and in particular locations, up to 1000 cubic meters of mine gas per hour can escape into the atmosphere from the disused mines - a mixture of methane, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT in Oberhausen have addressed the task of finding uses for this natural source of energy. Two pilot power stations in Herne and Lünen are now in operation, and without any problems. Suction apparatus extracts the gas from old mine shafts, feeding it to a unit-type cogenerating station which converts it into electricity and heat. Combustion of the methane substantially reduces the formation of harmful carbon dioxide, thereby greatly alleviating the burden on the environment.
If the gas from all the disused mines in the Ruhr area could be used in this way, an estimated 120 million cubic meters of methane would be available per year, corresponding to 1.2 billion kWh of power. This would suffice to supply 66,500 households with power. "The use of mine gas," explains Clemens Backhaus of UMSICHT, "could never be a substitute for coal-fired power stations, which deliver 800 megawatts of power. But in the Ruhr area alone, around 50 megawatts of clean energy could certainly be used." The two pilot plants in Herne and Lünen presently generate 500 and 370 kilowatts respectively, and the facility in Herne is being extended to deliver 1.5 megawatts. Moreover, this form of environmentally sound power generation is of global interest; not only Germany has coal mines no longer in operation. In China alone, experts estimate the total annual emission of mine gas at 20 billion cubic meters.
For further information:
Dipl.-Ing. Clemens Backhaus
Phone: +49 2 08/85 98-1 88
Fax: +49 2 08/85 98-2 90
E-Mail: ba@umsicht.fhg.de
Fraunhofer-Institut für
Umwelt-, Sicherheits- und
Energietechnik UMSICHT
Osterfelder Straße 3
46047 Oberhausen
Press contact:
Achim Loewen
Telefon +49 2 08/85 98-1 42
Telefax +49 2 08/85 98-2 90
E-Mail: loe@umsicht.fhg.de
www.umsicht.fhg.de
picture caption:
Combined heat and power (CHP) systems can convert mine gas into electricity and heat.
the picture can be ordered via email: koch@zv.fhg.de
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Dipl.-Ing. Clemens Backhaus
Phone: +49 2 08/85 98-1 88
Fax: +49 2 08/85 98-2 90
E-Mail: ba@umsicht.fhg.de
Fraunhofer-Institut für
Umwelt-, Sicherheits- und
Energietechnik UMSICHT
Osterfelder Straße 3
46047 Oberhausen
Press contact:
Achim Loewen
Telefon +49 2 08/85 98-1 42
Telefax +49 2 08/85 98-2 90
E-Mail: loe@umsicht.fhg.de
www.umsicht.fhg.de
picture caption:
Combined heat and power (CHP) systems can convert mine gas into electricity and heat.
the picture can be ordered via email: koch@zv.fhg.de
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
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