Estimating Methane Content of Bituminous Coalbeds From Adsorption Data

The Bureau of Mines estimated the methane content of a coal, which depends primarily upon rank and pressure, from the adsorption equation V = kPn, where k and n are constants related to rank. By incorporating corrections for moisture, ash, and temperature, and estimating pressure and temperature as a function of depth, the methane content of coal in place can be estimated. Values calculated with this equation generally are in reasonable agreement with direct determinations. By assuming a standar…