Chatsworth, Calif.: Capstone Turbine Corporation announced February 28 that it would be adding the U.S. coal bed methane market to its portfolio of oil and gas applications with the installation of the country’s first methane-fueled C200 engine at a CONSOL Energy gas processing plant in Pennsylvania.
The microturbine produces 200 kilowatts of low-emission power that the plant uses to recover 18.5 million-cubic-feet (524,456-cubic-meters) of methane gas each year and generate 1.3 million net kilowatt hours of clean electrical power.
“The C200 is expected to have much lower maintenance costs and emissions than those from reciprocating engines,” said Jim Grech, CONSOL Energy’s Chief Commercial Officer.
A 2011 U.S. Department of Energy report stated, “Coal bed methane proved reserves and production have grown nearly every year since 1989. Today it accounts for more than 8 percent of total domestic natural gas production and nearly 8 percent of U.S. proved reserves. The U.S. Energy Information Administration believes coal bed methane will continue to hold a similarly important share in the domestic energy picture between now and 2035.”