Prediction of Flowing Bottomhole Pressures for Two-Phase Coalbed Methane Wells

A method is proposed to predict the flowing bottomhole pressures （FBHPs） for two-phase coalbed methane （CBM） wells. The mathematical models for both gas column pressure and two-phase fluid column pressure were developed based on the well liquid flow equation. FBHPs during the production were predicted by considering the effect of entrained liquid on gravitational gradients. Comparison of calculated BHPs by Cullender-Smith and proposed method was also studied. The results show that the proposed algorithm gives the desired accuracy of calculating BHPs in the low- productivity and low-pressure CBM wells. FBHP is resulted from the combined action of wellhead pressure, gas column pressure and fluid column pressure. Variation of kinetic energy term, compressibility and friction factors with depth increments and liquid holdup with velocity should be considered to simulate the real BHPs adequately. BHP is a function of depth of each column segment. The small errors of less than 1.5% between the calculated and measured values are obtained with each segment within 25 m. Adjusting BHPs can effectively increase production pressure drop, which is beneficial to CBM desorption and enhances reservoir productivity. The increment of pressure drop from 5.37 MPa2 to 8.66 MPa2 leads to an increase of CBM production from 3270 m3/d to 6700 m3/d and is attributed to a decrease in BHP from 2.25 MPa to 1.33 MPa.

Effects of Fe and Mn in Paddy Soils Derived from Different Parent Materials on Methane Production and Emission

Three types of paddy soils, derived from granite, Quaternary red clay andbasalt, respectively, were selected to study the effects of Fe and Mn in paddy soils on methaneproduction and emission through pot and incubation experiments. The results indicated that thedifference of Fe and Mn in paddy soils was one of the important factors causing obvious differencesin methane emission from different soil types. Soil Fe and Mn affecting methane emission from thepaddy soils was likely through affectingsoil Eh and forming Fe and Mn plagues on rice roots.Different rates and valences of added Fe and Mn significantly affected methane production from paddysoils. Therefore, this study enhanced understanding of processes controlling methane emission frompaddy soils and may help to improve modeling and estimating regional and global methane emissionfrom paddy soils.

Effects of ceramsite on methane and hydrogen sulphide productions from macroalgae biomass

The easy acidification and high hydrogen sulfide （H2S） production during anaerobic digestion of macroalgae limited its application in biomethane production. In order to investigate the effects of ceramsite on methane and HzS productions during anaerobic digestion of macroalgae, batch experiments ofMacrocystis pyrifera were carried out. Four groups named C0, C1, C2 and C3 added with 0, 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 g/g substrate of ceramsite, respectively, were studied and compared. The highest cumulative methane yield of 286.3 mL/g substrate is obtained in C2, which is 40.11% higher than that of CO. The cumulative HzS yields of C1, C2 and C3 are 32.67%, 44.66% and 53.21% lower than that of CO, respectively. Results indicate that ceramsite addition permits higher methane yields, shorter lag-phase time and lower HzS yields during anaerobic digestion of Macrocystispyrifera.

Monoclinic KNbO3 Nanowires for Photocatalytic Methane Production and Dye Degradation

The room temperature stabled monoclinic KNbO3 nanowires were found to act as photocatalyst for photocatalytic methane production and dye degradation in this work. Higher activities have been observed for monoclinic phase compared to the reference（orthorhombic phase）. In the photoreduction of CO2 reaction, the monoclinic KNbO3 nanowires exhibited a CH4 evolution rate of 0.025 μmol·g-1·h-1, which was higher than 0.021 μmol·g-1·h-1 of orthorhombic KNbO3 nanowires. In the photodegradation of rhodamine B（Rh B）, almost all the Rh B were degraded after 90 min light illumination for monoclinic KNbO3 nanowires. But for orthorhombic KNbO3 nanowires, the concentration of Rh B only decreased to 62% of the initial value.

Rumen methane output and fermentation characteristics of gramineous forage and leguminous forage at differing harvest dates determined using an in vitro gas production technique

An in vitro rumen gas production technique was employed to determine the methane production and fermentation characteristics of Leymus chinensis and Medicago ruthenica at differing harvest dates（May 15,May 30,June 30,July 30,August 30 and September 30）,which are sequential phases within a single continuous growth of two 10-year-old pastures.To quantify the rate of degradation and compare in vitro rumen fermentation characteristic,a logistic-exponential model,where initial gas volume was zero（LE_0）,was used to fit gas production and methane output results.Dried,milled forage samples were incubated in vitro for 72 h at 39℃ and gas production was recorded intermittently throughout the incubation and gas samples were collected to measure methane production.Results showed that there were significant interactions between species and harvest for all chemical composition variables（P〈0.001） and condensed tannin content（P〈0.001）.L.chinensis produced more total gas and methane than M.ruthenica（P〈0.001）.Both total gas and methane production decreased lineally（P〈0.001） with advancing harvest date.The degradation rates of L.chinensis and M.ruthenica harvested on September 30 were lower than those on the other harvest dates（P〈0.01）.M.ruthenica fermented fluid had higher concentration of ammonia N（P〈0.05） and molar proportions of isobutyrate（P〈0.01）,valerate（P〈0.001） and isovalerate（P〈0.01） in total volatile fatty acids than L chinensis.Furthermore,concentration of isovalerate decreased cubically with advancing harvest date（P〈0.05）.In conclusion,M.ruthenica produced less methane than L.chinensis and the total gas and methane production decreased with advancing harvest date for both species,which may be due to the changes in contents of chemical compositions and condensed tannin in forages.

Investigation of Barree-Conway non-Darcy flow effects on coalbed methane production

Coalbed gas non-Darcy flow has been observed in high permeable fracture systems,and some mathematical and numerical models have been proposed to study the effects of non-Darcy flow using Forchheimer non-Darcy model.However,experimental results show that the assumption of a constant Forchheimer factor may cause some limitations in using Forchheimer model to describe non-Darcy flow in porous media.In order to investigate the effects of non-Darcy flow on coalbed methane production,this work presents a more general coalbed gas non-Darcy flow model according to Barree-Conway equation,which could describe the entire range of relationships between flow velocity and pressure gradient from low to high flow velocity.An expanded mixed finite element method is introduced to solve the coalbed gas non-Darcy flow model,in which the gas pressure and velocity can be approximated simultaneously.Error estimate results indicate that pressure and velocity could achieve first-order convergence rate.Non-Darcy simulation results indicate that the non-Darcy effect is significant in the zone near the wellbore,and with the distance from the wellbore increasing,the non-Darcy effect becomes weak gradually.From simulation results,we have also found that the non-Darcy effect is more significant at a lower bottom-hole pressure,and the gas production from non-Darcy flow is lower than the production from Darcy flow under the same permeable condition.

Energy,economic and environmental assessment of photocatalytic methane production:a comparative case study between Japan and Malaysia

Photocatalytic methane(CH_(4))production wherein CO_(2)is reduced to CH_(4) by utilizing solar radiation energy is gaining research and industrial focus because of its environmental-friendly notion.It offers twofold advantages:reduction in CO_(2)emission and production of artificial natural gas(methane)at the same time.In this paper,comparative energy,economic and environmental assessment of such photocatalytic methane production has been carried out between Japan and Malaysian conditions.Assumptions on the photocatalytic methane production plant and estimation of energy production,CO_(2)emission reduction,and economic indicators are made based on previous research and existing technologies.Energy analysis shows that Malaysia has a higher potential for energy production and CO_(2)emission reduction than Japan.Economic analysis reveals that the feasible reaction efficiencies of the plant in Japan and Malaysia are 8%.The slightly higher conversion efficiency in Malaysia is due to the energy price and CO_(2)tax.For the implementation of the photocatalytic methane production plant,the high energy price and CO_(2)tax will work as a driving force.

Study on Influencing Factors of Methane Production Efficiency of Microbial Electrolytic Cell with CO_(2) as Carbon Source

Reducing CO_(2) to produce methane through microbial electrolytic cell(MEC)is one of the important methods of CO_(2) resource utilization.In view of the problem of low methanogenesis rate and weak CO_(2) conversion rate in the reduction process,theflowfield environment of the cathode chamber is changed by changing the upper gas cir-culation rate and the lower liquid circulation rate of the cathode chamber to explore the impact on the reactor startup and operation and products.The results showed that under certain conditions,the CO_(2) consumption and methane production rate could be increased by changing the upper gas recirculation rate alone,but the increase effect was not obvious,but the by-product hydrogen production decreased significantly.Changing the lower liquid circulation rate alone can effectively promote the growth of biofilm,and change the properties of biofilm at the later stage of the experiment,with the peak current density increased by 16%;The methanogenic rate decreased from the peak value of 0.561 to 0.3 mmol/d,and the CO_(2) consumption did not change signifi-cantly,which indicated that CO_(2) was converted into other organic substances instead of methane.The data after coupling the upper gas circulation rate with the lower liquid circulation rate is similar to that of only changing the lower liquid circulation rate,but changing the upper gas circulation rate can alleviate the decline of methane pro-duction rate caused by the change of biofilm properties,which not only improves the current density,but also increases the methane production rate by 0.05 mmol/d in the stable period.This study can provide theoretical and technical support for the industrial application scenario offlowfield regulation intervention of microbial elec-trolytic cell methanogenesis.

Influence of main dietary chemical constituents on the in vitro gas and methane production in diets for dairy cows

Background： Modification of chemical composition of diets fed to dairy cows might be a good strategy to reduce methane（CH4） production in the rumen. Notable reductions of CH4 production compared to conventional highroughages rations were more frequently observed for very concentrated diets or when fat supplements were used. In these cases, the reduction in the gas emission was mainly a consequence of an overall impairment of rumen function with a reduction of fiber digestibility. These strategies do not always comply with feeding standards used in intensive dairy farms and they are usually not applied owing to the risks of negative health and economic consequences.Thus, the present study evaluated the effects of seven commercial diets with contents of neutral detergent fiber（NDF）,protein and lipids ranging 325 to 435 g/kg DM, 115 to 194 g/kg DM, and 26 to 61 g/kg DM, respectively, on in vitro degradability, gas（GP）, and CH4 production.Results： In this experiment, changes in the dietary content of NDF, crude protein（CP） and lipids were always obtained at the expense or in favor of starch. A decreased of the dietary NDF content increased NDF（NDFd） and true DM（TDMd） degradability, and increased CH4 production per g of incubated DM（P 〈 0.001）, but not that per g of TDMd. An increase of the dietary CP level did not change in vitro NDFd and TDMd, decreased GP per g of incubated DM（P 〈 0.001）, but CH4 production per g of TDMd was not affected. An increased dietary lipid content reduced NDFd, TDMd,and GP per g of incubated DM, but it had no consequence on CH4 production per g of TDMd.Conclusions： It was concluded that, under commercial conditions, changes in dietary composition would produce small or negligible alterations of CH4 production per unit of TDMd, but greater differences in GP and CH4 production would be expected when these amounts are expressed per unit of DM intake. The use of TDMd as a standardizing parameter is proposed to account for possible difference in DM intake and productivity.

Methodological factors affecting gas and methane production during in vitro rumen fermentation evaluated by meta-analysis approach

Effects of some methodological factors on in vitro measures of gas production（GP, mL/g DM）, CH4production（mL/g DM） and proportion（% CH4 on total GP） were investigated by meta-analysis. These factors were considered：pressure in the GP equipment（0 = constant; 1 = increasing）, incubation time（0 = 24; 1 = ≥ 48 h）, time of rumen fluid collection（0 = before feeding; 1 = after feeding of donor animals）, donor species of rumen fluid（0 = sheep; 1 =bovine）, presence of N in the buffer solution（0 = presence; 1 = absence）, and ratio between amount of buffered rumen fluid and feed sample（BRF/FS; 0 = ≤ 130 mL/g DM; 1 = 130–140 mL/g DM; 2 = ≥ 140 mL/g DM）. The NDF content of feed sample incubated（NDF） was considered as a continuous variable. From an initial database of 105 papers, 58 were discarded because one of the above-mentioned factors was not stated. After discarding 17 papers,the final dataset comprised 30 papers（339 observations）. A preliminary mixed model analysis was carried out on experimental data considering the study as random factor. Variables adjusted for study effect were analyzed using a backward stepwise analysis including the above-mentioned variables. The analysis showed that the extension of incubation time and reduction of NDF increased GP and CH4 values. Values of GP and CH4 also increased when rumen fluid was collected after feeding compared to before feeding（＋26.4 and ＋9.0 mL/g DM, for GP and CH4）,from bovine compared to sheep（＋32.8 and ＋5.2 mL/g DM, for GP and CH4）, and when the buffer solution did not contain N（＋24.7 and ＋6.7 mL/g DM for GP and CH4）. The increase of BRF/FS ratio enhanced GP and CH4production（＋7.7 and ＋3.3 mL/g DM per each class of increase, respectively）. In vitro techniques for measuring GP and CH4 production are mostly used as screening methods, thus a full standardization of such techniques is not feasible. However, a greater harmonization of analytical procedures（i.e., a reduction in the number of available protocols） would be useful to facilitate comparison between results of different experiments.

Transformation of organic matters in fresh leachate during anaerobic degradation under long hydraulic retention time

This study investigated the biodegradability of fresh leachate from a young municipal solid waste landfill at the inoculum to substrate ratios （V/V） of 10/100, 25/100, 50/100 and 100/100, as well as the transformation of organic matters in leachate under prolonged hydraulic retention time （HRT） of 50 d. Fresh leachate showed a good biodegradability, with chemical oxygen demand （COD） removal efficiency as high as 87%-92% and cumulative methane yield close to theoretical value （0.35 L CH4/g CODdeg）. Methane production and COD depletion presented biphasic characteristics associated with the successive utilization of two major intermediates, acetate and propionate, The biphasic degradation of fresh leachate was resulted from the different hydrolysis rates of diverse substrates and the changes in microorganism community structure. After 50 d, the effluents were dominated by high-MW organic compounds （MW 〉 10 kDa） at each inoculum ratio, which might be refractory compounds released from cell lyses.

Effects of brewers' spent grain protein hydrolysates on gas production, ruminal fermentation characteristics, microbial protein synthesis and microbial community in an artificial rumen fed a high grain diet

Background: Brewers' spent grain(BSG) typically contains 20% – 29% crude protein(CP) with high concentrations of glutamine, proline and hydrophobic and non-polar amino acid, making it an ideal material for producing valueadded products like bioactive peptides which have antioxidant properties. For this study, protein was extracted from BSG, hydrolyzed with 1% alcalase and flavourzyme, with the generated protein hydrolysates(AlcH and FlaH)showing antioxidant activities. This study evaluated the effects of AlcH and FlaH on gas production, ruminal fermentation characteristics, nutrient disappearance, microbial protein synthesis and microbial community using an artificial rumen system(RUSITEC) fed a high-grain diet.Results: As compared to the control of grain only, supplementation of FlaH decreased(P < 0.01) disappearances of dry matter(DM), organic matter(OM), CP and starch, without affecting fibre disappearances;while AlcH had no effect on nutrient disappearance. Neither AlcH nor FlaH affected gas production or VFA profiles, however they increased(P < 0.01) NH_3-N and decreased(P < 0.01) H_2 production. Supplementation of FlaH decreased(P < 0.01)the percentage of CH_4 in total gas and dissolved-CH_4(dCH_4) in dissolved gas. Addition of monensin reduced(P < 0.01) disappearance of nutrients, improved fermentation efficiency and reduced CH_4 and H_2 emissions.Total microbial nitrogen production was decreased(P < 0.05) but the proportion of feed particle associated(FPA) bacteria was increased with FlaH and monensin supplementation. Numbers of OTUs and Shannon diversity indices of FPA microbial community were unaffected by AlcH and FlaH;whereas both indices were reduced(P < 0.05) by monensin. Taxonomic analysis revealed no effect of AlcH and FlaH on the relative abundance(RA) of bacteria at phylum level, whereas monensin reduced(P < 0.05) the RA of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes and enhanced Proteobacteria. Supplementation of FlaH enhanced(P < 0.05) the RA of genus Prevotella, reduced Selenomonas, Shuttleworthia, Bifidobacterium and Dialister as compared to control;monensin reduced(P < 0.05) RA of genus Prevotella but enhaced Succinivibrio.Conclusions: The supplementation of FlaH in high-grain diets may potentially protect CP and starch from ruminal degradation, without adversely affecting fibre degradation and VFA profiles. It also showed promising effects on reducing CH_4 production by suppressing H_2 production. Protein enzymatic hydrolysates from BSG using flavourzyme showed potential application to high value-added bio-products.

The Role of Biochar to Enhance Anaerobic Digestion: A Review

Biochar,one of the products of thermochemical conversion of biomass,possesses specific physiochemical properties such as conductivity,pore adsorption,surface functional groups,and cation exchange capacity.Anaerobic digestion(AD)as a classical bio-wastes conversion technology,suffers from inhibitions,process instability,and methanogenic inefficiency which limit its efficiency.With the advantages of pH buffering,functional microbes enrichment,inhibitors alleviating,and direct interspecies electron transfer(DIET)accelerating,biochar suggests a promising application as additives for AD.Herein,this paper reviewed the noting physicochemical properties of biochar,and discussed its roles and related mechanisms in AD.Further,this paper highlighted the advantages and drawbacks,and pointed out the corresponding challenges and prospects for future research and application of biochar amending AD.

Effect of sulfate on the methanogenic activity of a bacterial culture from a brewery wastewater during glucose degradation

The maximum specific methanogenic activity （SMA） of a sludge originating from a brewery wastewater treatment plant on the degradation of glucose was investigated at various levels of sulfate on a specific loading basis. Batch experiments were conducted in serum bottles at pH 7 and 35℃. A comparison of the values indicates that the SMA of this mixed culture was increased and reached its highest level of 0.128 g CH4 gas COD/（g VSS.d） when biomass was in contact with sulfate at a ratio of 1：0.114 by weight.

Comparison between controlled landfill reactor and conditioned landfill bioreactor

Bioreactor landfills allow a more active landfill management that recognizes the biological, chemical and physical processes involved in a landfill environment. The laboratory-scale simulators of landfill reactors treating municipal solid wastes were studied, the effect of solid waste size, leachate recirculation, nutrient balance, pH value, moisture content and temperature on the rate of municipal solid waste(MSW) biodegradation were determined, and it indicated the optimum pH value, moisture content and temperature decomposing MSW. The results of waste biodegradation were compared with that of the leachate-recirculated landfill simulator and conservative sanitary landfill simulator. In the control experiment the antitheses of a decreasing trend of the organic load, measured as biological oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand, was shown. An obvious enhancement of effective disposal from conservative sanitary landfill(CSL) simulator, to the leachate-recirculated landfill(LRL) simulator and to the conditioned bioreactor landfill(CBL) simulator would be noted, through displaying the compared results of solid waste settlement, heavy metal concentration in leachate, methane production rate, biogas composition, BOD and COD as well as their ratio.

Effects of Different States of Fe on Anaerobic Digestion:A Review

Anaerobic digestion is widely used in the treatment of industrial wastewater,excess activated sludge,municipal waste,crop straw and livestock manure,with the functions of environmental protection and energy recovery. This review summarizes and evaluates the present knowledge of effects of different states of Fe( ZVI,Fe( II),Fe( III)) on hydrogen and methane production in anaerobic digestion process. The potential promotion effects of iron oxides nanoparticles( IONPs),especially magnetite nanoparticles on anaerobic digestion are also mentioned. Fe plays important role in transporting electron,stimulating bacterial growth and increasing hydrogen and methane production rate by promoting enzyme activity. Adding Fe with different morphologies and valence states in anaerobic digestion to increase biogas( hydrogen and methane) production and enhance organic matter degradation simultaneously,which has attracted many scientists' attention in recent years. Rapid progress in this area has been made over the last few years,since Fe is essential to the fermentative hydrogen and methane production,while few is known about how Fe affects the fermentative biogas production. This review is significant to maintain the stable operation of the biogas project.

Characteristics and control mechanisms of coalbed permeability change in various gas production stages

According to dimensionless analysis of the coalbed methane （CBM） production data of Fanzhuang block in southern Qinshui basin, the dimensionless gas production rate is calculated to quantitatively divide the CBM well production process into four stages, i.e., drai- nage stage, unstable gas production stage, stable gas pro- duction stage, and gas production decline stage. By the material balance method, the coal reservoir permeability change in different stages is quantitatively characterized. The characteristics and control mechanisms of change in coalbed permeability （CICP） during different production stages are concluded on five aspects, i.e., permeability trend variation, controlling mechanism, system energy, phase state compositions, and production performance. The study reveals that CICP is characterized by first decline, then recovery, and finally by increase and is controlled directly by effective stress and matrix shrinkage effects. Further, the duration and intensity of the matrix shrinkage effect are inherently controlled by adsorption and desorp- tion features.

Effect of supplemental Bacillus culture on rumen fermentation and performance in dairy cattle

Two parts were involved in this experiment. In experiment 1, 32 Chinese Holstein cows with relatively similar body condition, lactation number and days in milk were selected. The cows were assigned in a randomized complete block design trial to determine the effect of supplemental Bacillus cultures to diet on production performance in dairy cattle. Four treatments, i.e., Bacillus licheniformis （strain number 1.813） group, Bacillus subtilis （strain number 1.1086） group, Bacillus cereus var. mycoides （strain number 1.260） group and control group. Each treatment had eight replicates, each replicate had one cow, 50 g per head per day. Results showed that Bacillus licheniformis group increased the milk yield （P〈0.05）. The other two groups didn＇t have significant effect on milk yield than the control group （P〉0.05）. In experiment 2, 3 Chinese Holstein cows with permanent fistulas were used. 3×3 Latin squares were assigned to three diets： Bacillus lincheniformis culture, Bacillus subtilis culture and control. Bacillus licheniformis culture increased total rumen microorganism （P〈0.05）, decreased the ammonia N concentration at 2, 4 h （P〈0.05）. Bacillus licheniformis culture increased the total volatile fatty （P〉0.05）, increased the rate of acetic acid to propionic acid （P〉0.05）. Bacillus licheniformis culture decreased the methane production （P〈0.05）.

Apparatus Prototype for Purposes of Teaching in Bio-digesters

A mathematical model is developed based on a simplified mechanism of anaerobic digestion. The main objective is to quantitatively analyze the digestion process to optimize operating conditions and maintenance of this equipment, which could be used to test different materials and be able to apply these results to the possible scaling to bio-digesters installed in the field. The experiments were carried out in a hybrid system bio-digester photovoltaic cells. The bio-digester is made of stainless steel with dimensions to treat an average of 10 kg of raw material and produce biogas from different organic materials. The reactor has been conditioned with temperature sensors, pressure and methane gas that allow monitoring the concentration of the gas and the conditions of operation during the time of digestion. The system has a photovoltaic array to provide the energy required to keep the temperature constant, The experiment was conducted using materials such as goat manure mixed with household waste, and various formulations of these materials were prepared. The experimental results were used to test the mathematical model.

Optimization of the methane production in batch anaerobic digestion of maize straw by adjustment of total solid and substrate-to-inoculum ratio based on kinetics

Anaerobic digestion(AD)operating under conditions of organic overload stress typically exacerbates the potential for process instability,thereby resulting in significant economic and ecological ramifications.In this investigation,an augmented substrate-to-inoculum ratio(S/I)along with varying total solid content(TS)levels was employed to replicate diverse organic loadings,utilizing maize straw and cattle manure.The findings reveal that a moderate augmentation in S/I and TS proves advantageous in augmenting methane yield,while an excessive substrate loading diminishes methane yield,hampers the kinetics of methane production,and even induces severe process instability.Kinetic study also displayed the variation of the model parameters for the first-order model,the modified Gompertze model,and the transfer function model.Both the modified Gompertze model and transfer function model exhibited the same environmental stress trend.Thus,both the increase in particulate content and the increase in S/I had a substantial effect on the substrate conversion rate to methane.Microbial analysis demonstrates the dominant influence of Firmicutes and Methanosarcina under different organic loading stresses.From both a kinetic and a microbiological point of view,this work provides novel insights into the fundamental processes that regulate anaerobic digestion(AD)under varying loading stress.Furthermore,it has significant implications for improving the operating efficiency of AD,which is a significant benefit.