SBIR Phase I: Capture and Use of Coal Mine Ventilation Air Methane (VAM)

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目建议开发一种技术，可以有效地捕获煤矿运营中产生的通风空气甲烷（VAM）并将其转化为燃料。 VAM是煤矿爆炸的首要原因。 目前，减少这种风险的唯一可用方法是使用强大的通风系统，这是昂贵的维护和不足以处理紧急情况。 甲烷也是一种温室气体，其捕获热量的效率是二氧化碳的20倍以上。 由于采矿活动，每年有数千万吨甲烷被释放到大气中。 所提出的技术将提供一个理想的技术解决方案，可以解决VAM的所有主要问题-安全，环境和能源。与现有的方法相比，如地面VAM燃烧器，所提出的技术具有地下操作，室温操作，体积便携，独立，节能和成本低得多的特点。这项研究的更广泛/商业影响是减少煤矿事故，减少矿井关闭时间，增加工作场所安全，这可能导致进一步开发和应用挥发性有机化学品（VOC）的技术，对人们的安全和健康构成持续威胁。 虽然本项目第一期针对的是煤矿行业，但本项目所开发的技术可以很容易地应用于其他行业，如石油、化工、制药和住宅空气质量控制等，而无需进行重大修改。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes to develop a technology that can effectively capture ventilation air methane (VAM) generated in coal mine operation and convert it to fuels. VAM is the #1 cause of coal mine explosion. Currently, the only available method to reduce this risk is to use powerful ventilation systems, which are costly to maintain and insufficient to handle emergencies. Methane is also a greenhouse gas that is over 20 times more effective in trapping heat than CO2. Each year tens of millions tons of methane are released into the atmosphere due to mining activities. The proposed technology will provide an ideal technical solution that can solve all the main concerns of VAM - safety, environment, and energy. Compared to existing methods, such as ground VAM burners, the proposed technology features underground operation, room-temperature operation, portable in size, stand-alone, energy efficient and much lower costs. The broader/commercial impacts of this research are the reduction of coal mine accidents, reduction of mine shut-down time, increase of work place safety, a technology that may lead to further development and applications for the treatment of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), a constant threat to people safety and health. Although, this project targets at the coal mine industry at Phase I, the technology developed in this project can be easily adopted for applications in other industries without significant modification, such as petroleum, chemical engineering, pharmaceuticals and residential air quality control etc.