Soran University 6/10

Faculty of Engineering
Chemical engineering department

Sources of methane

Supervised by:
Professor Ibtsam kamal
Prepared by:
Muhammad Najmadin
Introduction:
Methane: is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CH4 and
methane is the simplest alkane, and methane is the main compound of
natural gas. methane can be founded naturally in below and under the
seafloor. The Earth's atmospheric methane concentration increased by
about 150% since 1750, and it accounts for 20% of the total radiative
forcing from all of the long-lived and globally mixed greenhouse. Methane
is a colorless, odorless at room temperature and standard pressure. Boiling
point of methane is -164 C (-257.8 F) at a pressure of one atmosphere.
There are two known shapes of methane production on earth called
biological and non-biological methane sources.

Methane production in ecosystems

the process of biological methane production is called methano-genesis.
The best studied methane-producing microorganism are named
methanogens. Methanogens have complex metabolism that permits them
to make methane as they produce the vitality they got to survive. Interests,
air oxygen which we ought to breath and get energy, is poisonous to a few
methanogens, so these microorganisms are by and large found in regions
where oxygen is constrained or truant, such as underground, within the silt
at the foot of lakes, tidal ponds, wetlands, and seas, and indeed interior the
guts of all sorts of creatures, counting worms, termites, cows, and people. Biological
methane production is only done by microorganisms. The current estimates suggest that
90–95% of the methane released into the atmosphere has a biological origin and is
produced exclusively as a result of microbial activity. Methanogens do not use oxygen
to respire; in fact, oxygen inhibits the growth of methanogens. The terminal electron
acceptor in methanogenesis is not oxygen, but carbon. The carbon can occur in a small
number of organic compounds, all with low molecular weights. The two best described
pathways involve the use of acetic acid or inorganic carbon dioxide as terminal
electron acceptors:
CO2 + 4 H2 → CH4 + 2 H2O
CH3COOH → CH4 + CO2
During anaerobic respiration of carbohydrates,
H2 and acetate are formed in a ratio of 2:1 or
lower, so H2 contributes only ca. 33% to
methanogenesis, with acetate contributing the
greater proportion. In some circumstances, for
instance in the rumen, where acetate is largely
absorbed into the bloodstream of the host, the
contribution of H2 to methanogenesis is greater.

(non-biological) Thermogenic gases generate from thermo catalytic breakdown

(cracking) of complex organic molecules as they are cleaved and subsequently saturated
to form the C1–C5 alkanes of natural gas. Gas may be generated from the direct cracking
of source rock organic kerogen (primary cracking) or from oil (secondary cracking).
Generation of thermogenic gases occurs over a gradient of maturation. During early
and mature stages, methane and higher natural gas range alkanes are generated along
with the molecules that make up oil and condensate liquids. As the thermo catalytic
reactions continue into later stages, all of the hydrocarbon molecules eventually are
broken down, leaving methane as the final “dry gas” end product.

Biological (microbial) Non-biological (thermogenic)

-Methane production is performed by bacteria -non biological methane production occurs

that lives in sediments and soils without participation of living organisms
-bacteria convert food paper building material -non-biological can be released by volcanoes of
to methane formed underground, under high pressures and
temperature
-microbials don’t need oxygen to produce
methane -the geological process normally involves
transformation of rocks that are meted with heat
- Methanogenesis is the terminal step in the and water
food chain that occurs in the absence of
atmospheric oxygen. This gas is produced as a
consequence of the total degradation of organic
matter
Refences
https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2019.00133

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/methane

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/thermogenic