Major System Benefits:
- Smaller footprint due to flow-through design
- High reliability due to fewer moving parts
- Lower cost of operation than competing technologies
- Active and passive safety system design
Johnson Matthey’s system offers cost-effective, low-temperature oxidation of methane from active and abandoned coal mines.
Methane has a global warming potential of up to 25 times that of carbon dioxide. Despite the low concentrations of methane in ventilation air from coal mines, the flow rates are enormous, resulting in significant greenhouse gas emission and global warming impact. Ventilation air methane (VAM) contributes more than 300 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent to the atmosphere each year.
Traditionally the technologies available to abate methane emissions have been too expensive, preventing their adoption. Johnson Matthey’s VAM system solves this problem. Developed by Johnson Matthey chemical engineers and catalyst chemists, working together with Anglo Coal mining engineers, the VAM system offers a robust, low-cost, environmentally sound solution to methane emissions.
Major System Features:
- Flow-through design with no flow switching
- Scalable to any flow rate
- Methane concentrations from 0.2% up to 1.2%
- Power Export options available
Utilization of a catalyst to oxidize methane emissions, rather than thermal destruction, has the added benefit of operating below the auto ignition temperature of methane. This approach, combined with both active and passive safety features, results in a system design which is an inherently better and safer option for a mining environment than thermal technologies.