Innovative Apparatus for Testing Filtration, Sorption and CO(2)/CH(4) Exchange Sorption Processes Under Isobaric Conditions on Sorbent Subjected to Confining Pressure in Terms of Laboratory Tests of CO(2)-ECBM Technology

In recent years, the interest in the sorption properties of coal in conditions corresponding to in situ has increased due to the continuous development of research on CO(2)-ECBM (Enhanced Coal Bed Methane recovery) technology. In order to gain a better insight into a number of phenomena related to filtration, sorption and CO(2)/CH(4) exchange sorption occurring in coal loaded with confining pressure, which corresponds to the in situ conditions, an innovative research apparatus was built to enable temporal and spatial analysis of these phenomena. The constructed apparatus consists of three systems: a high-pressure system, a gas injection system and a gas emission system. The work presents the results of basic apparatus tests, which were aimed at checking its correct operation and determining its specifications. These tests involved carrying out trial measurements of methane (CH(4)) filtration processes, CH(4) sorption and CO(2)/CH(4) exchange sorption on a coal sample. The results of the tests showed among other things that the apparatus ensured the regulation of the confining pressure in the range of 0.1–40 MPa, the regulation of the pressure at the inlet and outlet of the sample in the range of 0.1–1.6 MPa and 0.1–1.0 MPa and the measurement of changes in the sample volume in the range of 0–7.85 cm(3). The results of the tests confirmed the correct functioning of the constructed apparatus.