Development of Technological Evaluation Criteria for the Selection of Promising Coal Methane Production Sites

The article defines technological criteria based on the analysis of the influence of the depth of occurrence, disturbance, permeability and methane content of coal seams, to identify the most gas-saturated areas that can be considered promising for obtaining methane from the coal bed.The organization of large-scale production of coalbed methane will significantly reduce the risk of explosion of methane-air mixtures during the development of new horizons and use part of the extracted gas for mine power plants.This will increase the profitability of coal mining.On the fields of operating mines, methane production is considered, on the one hand, as a source of affordable and cheap combustible gas, on the other, as a way to reduce the gas content of coal seams in order to create safe working conditions.Analyzing the geological features of the Karaganda coal basin in comparison with international ones, we can draw a conclusion about the potential for the implementation of methane production projects in individual areas.Five sections of the Karaganda coal basin are being considered: Industrial, Abai, Sherubainurinsky, Taldykuduk and Saransky.Key factors affecting the process of methane extraction from coal seams have been identified.To evaluate the factors, each site was assigned a number from 1 to 10, with 10 representing the best score.After generalizing the results of the conducted research, a criterion rating of each site was compiled.Based on the results of the research, a map was compiled indicating the most promising sites for methane production, indicating on it the projected methane resources and coal volumes.