Ionic composition data of coalbed methane (CBM) produced water from five CBM blocks in China were used to investigate the variability in and the geological controls on water quality across geologic basins and the resulting environmental impacts. The assessment tools included the Schoeller diagram, the Na-K-Mg ternary diagram and the Cl-Na-HCO₃ ternary diagram. Techniques such as principal component analysis (PCA) and R-mode hierarchical cluster analysis were also applied to the ionic database to reveal the relationships between the ions. The results from this study indicate that three major ions (Na, Cl, and HCO₃) and two primary processes (sulfate reduction and mixing of the coal seam water with the fracturing fluid) affect the ionic compositions of CBM produced water. The burial depth of the coal seam, the fresh water influence and the fracturing fluid contamination jointly control the water quality variability of produced water. The Na-K-Mg ternary diagram provides a potential method to evaluate the origin of CBM produced water, such as coal seam water in the partially equilibrated region and exotic water (including the fracturing fluid or shallow cold groundwater) in the immature water region. Most of the CBM produced water in China has high concentrations of Na, HCO₃, Cl and TDS compared to the standards for drinking water and irrigation water. The produced waters from deep formations (>1000 m), or those produced during the early drainage periods, are always saline, “Na-Cl” type waters. Appropriate treatment methods and regulations for CBM produced water in China are urgently needed.

Water content and water–coal interface wettability are always the difficult issues of coalbed methane adsorption/desorption. In order to study the effects of the pore structure and wettability of different macro coal components on methane adsorption and desorption, we compared and analyzed the wettability difference between vitrain and durain, and revealed the influence of wettability on methane adsorption and desorption through a pore structure analysis, wettability measurements, an adsorption–desorption experiment and adsorption heat calculations under different conditions, taking the No. 4 coal in Dafosi Coal Mine of the Huanglong coalfield as the research object. The results show that both vitrain and durain are relatively hydrophilic substances. However, vitrain has a low ash content, high volatility, and less oxygen, and the pores are mainly semi-closed pores compared with dark coal. Vitrain also has poor connectivity, poor sorting, a small pore diameter, and a coarser surface, resulting in poor surface wettability. The large specific surface area (SSA) and relatively poor wettability of vitrain leads to more adsorption sites in methane, which makes the adsorption capacity of vitrain greater than that of durain, but the good pore connectivity of durain causes the strong desorption capacity of durain. The isosteric adsorption heat of the adsorption process is greater than that of the desorption process, indicating that there is a desorption hysteresis phenomenon which is essentially due to the lack of energy in desorption. Surfactants change the wettability of the coal surface, and different surfactants have different effects on methane adsorption and desorption. Relatively speaking, the methane desorption of coal samples treated with G502 and 6501 are better. The research results provide scientific reference for the study of gas–water transport in the desorption process of low-rank CBM, and provide evidence for the methane desorption model of vitrain and durain.

In order to study the controlled factors and variation of gas content in deep low-rank coal reservoirs, taking No.4 coal of Jurassic Yan’an Formation in Huanglong coalfield as an example, collects the production data and prepares the coal samples. Carrying out the coal rock and coal quality test and multi-temperature methane isothermal adsorption experiment to explore the influence of different temperature and pressure conditions on coal adsorption capacity, and analyzes the variation characteristics of gas content with burial depth combined with geological conditions. The results show that the sedimentary, structural and hydrogeological conditions have a certain influence on the formation and preservation of coalbed methane. The gas content increases with the increase of coalification degree and vitrinite content, and decreases with the increase of inertinite content, ash yield and volatile yield. With the increase of moisture, the gas content increased first and then decreased. When the pressure is less than 4 MPa, the adsorption capacity increases about 4-4.7m³/t with the increase of pressure, and the increasing trend slows down when the pressure is greater than 4 MPa. The adsorption capacity decreased more obviously with the increase of temperature when the temperature increased from 25°C to 35°C. Based on the prediction model of saturated adsorption capacity of deep coal reservoirs, it is found that there is a gas content critical conversion depth 800-900 m. The gas content shows a process of rapid increase (900 m) with the increase of burial depth. Below 800 m, the positive effect of reservoir pressure is dominant, and the gas content increases with burial depth. Above 900 m, the negative effect of reservoir temperature is dominant, and the gas content decreases with burial depth. The study results provide a theoretical basis for the development of deep low-rank coalbed methane resources.

Coalbed methane (CBM)-bearing systems are often superposed in coal-bearing strata with multiple coal seams. The formation and development of independent superposed CBM-bearing systems is based on the vertical variation of pore structure in coal-bearing strata. This study examines the potential of the pore structure cycle of the intervening rock formation in coal-bearing strata that compartmentalize the CBM system, which, in turn, assist in the production of the coal gas. The pore structure is characterized using lithology, sequence stratigraphy, and mercury injection porosimetry data generated from 25 samples of the intervening formation. The samples originate from a representative drilling operation located in the Bide-Santang basin, western Guizhou, China. We divided the pore structures into 4 types (I, II, III and IV): type I, “well sorted and fine slanting degrees;” type II, “well sorted and coarse slanting degrees with extremely low mercury saturation;” type III, “poorly sorted and uniform distribution” and type IV, “poorly sorted and polarization of micropores and macropores.” Pore structure changes cyclically in accordance with the sedimentary cycle: pores developed poorly within rocks that formed in deep water bodies with low energy and reducing sedimentary environments, such as lagoons and limited subtidal and mire facies; pores are better developed within rocks formed in shallow water bodies with high energy and oxidizing environments, such as supratidal flats, intertidal zones, and distributary channel facies. Third-order sequence boundaries (SB) favor the development of secondary porosity, whereas the maximum flooding surface (MFS) possesses a superior condition for forming regional impermeable barriers between different CBM-bearing systems. The sequence stratigraphic framework limits the variation trend of the pore structure and therefore limits the vertical distribution of independent superposed CBM-bearing systems. The findings are of great significance for enriching the geological theory of multi-seam CBM accumulation, optimizing the co-mining methods and improving the co-mining efficiency of superposed CBM systems.