A collaboration between University of Technology Sydney (UTS) researchers and Howden is set to yield a leap forward in methane emissions mitigation.
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that traps more heat than carbon dioxide in the short term, driving roughly 30% of global warming. Reducing methane emissions slows global warming, prevents extreme weather events, cleans the air, and improves public health.
A pilot plant is being built at the UTS Tech Lab facility in Botany, which will optimise the performance of a unique combination of state-of-the-art catalytic process technology and high-efficiency heat exchangers. The pilot plant is expected to run from the end of 2026, after which a demonstration plant is planned to treat mine ventilation air onsite.
The project will initially focus on emissions from mines but will also help tackle methane emissions from landfill sites, waste disposal units, energy providers, and users requiring high-density energy such as data centres.
UTS catalysis and process engineering group lead Michael Stockenhuber says methane mitigation is critical for climate action as it offers the fastest way to slow global warming impacts.
“We have developed a technically superior catalytic methane mitigation technology for low concentration methane emissions,” Stockenhuber says.
“The technology excels in low temperature operation, reduced reactor volume, and long-term stability. The technology potentially can reduce methane emissions from mining by more than 90%. Emissions from mining contribute 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.”
Howden has supplied ventilation solutions to the Australian mining industry for over 100 years. Methane emissions remain a serious issue for the sector.
Stockenhuber adds catalytic technology has an advantage compared to thermal mitigation systems owing to lower operating temperatures and much smaller footprint.
“Our research has successfully demonstrated consistent, high conversion under standard operation for more than six months at temperatures as low as 460°C,” he says.
“Besides the lower operating costs and size of the units compared to thermal oxidisers, the reduced temperature also results in a reduced risk for the operation on mine sites and other applications.”
Opportunities for companies
The push to tackle methane also highlights the broader challenge facing mining companies: reducing emissions without compromising the economics of resource production.
That is creating opportunities for companies such as Monumental Energy (TSX-V:MNRG), which is focused on developing energy and resource solutions as the mining sector comes under growing pressure to decarbonise.
Earlier this week, Monumental Energy received acceptance for its petroleum permit application, covering the Tirua Point area in New Zealand’s Taranaki Basin.
Tirua Point covers 245km² of prospective onshore and offshore acreage in the northern Taranaki Basin. Technical work completed by the applicant group has identified two gas condensate prospects, Mauku Northeast and Mangatoa.
Mauku Northeast is an Eocene-age Mangahewa Group prospect situated up-dip from the Mauku-1 well drilled in 2013, which intersected around 140m of net reservoir.
Meanwhile, Mangatoa is a deeper prospect targeting the mid-Cretaceous Taniwha Formation. The offshore Te Ranga-1 well, drilled in 1986, intersected approximately 100m of the Taniwha Formation between measured depths of 3,740m and 3,842m below the Kelly bushing.
The company’s other focus is on two highly prospective lithium-brine salars in Chile, comprising 20,925 hectares strategically located near the biggest and most profitable producing lithium salar in the world, the Salar de Atacama, operated by SQM (NYSE:SQM) and Albemarle (NYSE:ALB).
Australia’s coal industry
In Australia specifically, there is an opportunity to reduce annual methane emissions by 18% by 2030, just from coal mines alone.
The nation’s coal industry is a massive global exporter that generates tens of billions in export revenue. Australian coal supplied 62.6% of electricity to the National Electricity Market in 2022–23, while gas supplied 4.5%, hydro (8.3%), and other renewable energy (24.1%).
According to Ember Energy, methane emitted from coal mines represents 23% of Australia’s total methane emissions, second only to agriculture. However, mitigating methane emissions from coal mines is considered four times cheaper.
The Global Methane Assessment found that coal miners have ‘ready to go’ technologies that are some of the cheapest mitigation options available.
Estimates reveal that methane from coal mines can be mitigated at an average cost of $270 per tonne of methane. For agriculture, this cost is closer to $1,200 per tonne.
For methane-intensive operations and nations, however, the technology challenge is particularly acute.
Unlike higher-concentration gas streams, ventilation air methane is highly diluted, making it difficult to capture economically. The UTS-Howden Project is targeting precisely this gap.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: iStock
