Effects of Pore Structure of Different Rank Coals on Methane Adsorption Heat

Abstract

Adsorption thermodynamic characteristics are an important part of the methane adsorption mechanism, and are useful for understanding the energy transmission mechanism of coalbed methane (CBM) migration in coal reservoirs. To study the effect of coal pore characteristics on methane adsorption heat, five different types of rank coals were used for low-pressure nitrogen, low-pressure carbon dioxide, and methane adsorption experiments. Pore structure and adsorption parameters, including maximum adsorption capacity and adsorption heat, were obtained for five coal samples, and their relationships were investigated. The results show that the low-pressure nitrogen adsorption method can measure pores within 1.7–300 nm, while the low-pressure carbon dioxide adsorption method can measure micropores within 0.38–1.14 nm. For the five coal samples, comprehensive pore structure parameters were obtained by combining the results of the low-pressure nitrogen and carbon dioxide adsorption experiments. The comprehensive results show that micropores contribute the most to the specific surface area of anthracite, lean coal, fat coal, and lignite, while mesopores contribute the most to the specific surface area of coking coal. Mesopores contribute the most to the pore volume of the five coal samples. The maximum adsorption capacity has a significant positive correlation with the specific surface area and pore volume of micropores less than 2 nm, indicating that methane is mainly adsorbed on the surface of micropores, and can also fill the micropores. The adsorption heat has a significant positive correlation with the specific surface area and pore volume of micropores within 0.38–0.76 nm, indicating that micropores in this range play a major role in determining the methane adsorption heat.