155 atmosphere. The project budget is nearly EUR 21.5 million, with co-financing covering 50% of eligible costs. In addition to JSW, the consortium includes five research institutions. From Poland, these are the National Research Institutes – the Central Mining Institute, the Oil and Gas Institute, and the Polish Geological Institute. The Polish institutes are supported by two foreign entities: INSEMEX from Romania and the University of Oviedo in Spain. The project aims to determine the possibility of obtaining methane from the post-mining workings of an active mine by implementing a parallel methane drainage system for low concentration methane. This also required the consent of the Higher Mining Authority President to waive the applicable regulations on the minimum methane concentration in the gas captured at the methane drainage station. In Polish regulations, it is 30%, while in the planned installation, the minimum concentration will be 20%. Such a solution obviously requires the use of additional technical requirements to increase safety. Prototype installation will be built in the ‘Pniówek’ mine, owned by Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa. Figure 8 - Reduced concentration methane drainage system diagram at Pniówek coal mine The methane obtained from post-mining goafs will be used to produce electricity in dedicated gas engines connected to electricity generators enabling the production of electricity from gas with a methane concentration of 20÷40%. The solutions tested in this project will ultimately be implemented in all JSW mines. They can also be successfully used in any methane-bearing hard coal mine in the world with a multi-seam deposit. Figure 2 presents a diagram of a methane drainage network with reduced methane concentration, which is being developed at the Pniówek coal mine. The project identifies possible methane intake points, where drainage boreholes will be made and, after confirming the appropriate gas parameters, connected to the methane drainage network. An essential element are the dams isolating the post-mining goafs. They will be sealed and connected to the system. For this purpose, tests of rock mass fractures around the dams were carried out and a design for their sealing was developed. The gas captured by the methane drainage station at shaft #V of the Pniówek coal mine will be delivered to energy generation modules. This solution allows methane, which was previously released into the atmosphere with
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