Abstract Biological methane production from coal seams through their biological conversion is one of the methods that have been postulated to utilize unmineable resources. Furthermore, energy production from methane is considered less environmentally-harmful than the combustion of coal. In the current study, meta-bituminous coal extracted from the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB) was investigated in terms of its potential for biological methane formation. Both natural and stimulated (by bioaugmentation) methanogenic activity was assayed. Consortia of microorganisms selected from highly methanogenic peat (Moszne peat bog) and sediments (Szczecin subsidence reservoir) were enriched on various media and used for coal bioaugmentation. It was found that both peat- and sediment-derived microbiota are capable of coal degradation, with the latter being more effective. FT-IR revealed changes in the utilization patterns organic matter by each community that were linked to differences in the stable carbon isotope indices of the gases produced. The ability to cleave aromatic rings was recognized as the most important feature of the microbial community used in the production of methane from the tested coal.

中文翻译：

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上西里西亚煤盆地烟煤产甲烷的刺激作用

摘要 通过生物转化从煤层中生产生物甲烷是已假定利用不可开采资源的方法之一。此外，甲烷产生的能源被认为比煤燃烧对环境的危害更小。在当前的研究中，研究了从上西里西亚煤矿 (USCB) 提取的变质烟煤的生物甲烷形成潜力。对天然和刺激（通过生物强化）产甲烷活性进行了测定。从高产甲烷泥炭（Moszne 泥炭沼泽）和沉积物（什切青沉陷水库）中选择的微生物群落在各种介质上富集并用于煤的生物强化。发现泥炭和沉积物衍生的微生物群都能够降解煤，后者更有效。FT-IR 揭示了每个群落有机物利用模式的变化，这与产生的气体的稳定碳同位素指数的差异有关。裂解芳香环的能力被认为是用于从测试煤生产甲烷的微生物群落的最重要特征。