Anthracite bio-degradation by methanogenic consortia in Qinshui basin

• Research identified that the methanogenic consortium exists in Qinshui basin.
• Research showed that some compounds in anthracite could support methanogenic consortia living.
• Correlation analysis shows the volatile plays controlling factor in bio-degradation process.
• Coenzyme F420 has been used to identify the existence of methanogen in experiments.

Studies have identified that the methanogenic consortia live in bituminous and lignite coal beds. The two main goals of this study are to verify the existence of the consortia in anthracite and to determine whether this high rank coal bed could provide nutrients for the methanogenic consortia. Research has confirmed that types of methanogenic consortia live in the Qinshui basin and use some compounds in anthracite as carbon sources to yield biogas. Maceral analysis confirmed that volatile matter is a controlling factor in the biological methane yield process. The CH4 and CO2 yield process showed that the methanogenic consortia can degrade volatile matter in anthracite into bio-methane in situ. This study confirmed that the methanogenic consortia bio-degradation process can work on anthracite to increase the CH4 concentration in the Qinshui basin, which is located in the Shanxi province and is an important methane-producing coal seam in China. It was estimated that approximately 3.0 × 10− 2 ~ 4.0 × 10− 2 m3/kg of methane can be generated in the Qinshui basin by microbial bio-degradation.