Capturing Carbon Dioxide: The Feasibility of Re-Using Existing Pipeline Infrastructure to Transport Anthropogenic CO2

Abstract

Climate change has been attributed to green house gases, with carbon dioxide (CO2) being the main contributor. Sixty to seventy percent of carbon dioxide emissions originate from fossil fuel power plants. Power companies in the UK, along with oil and gas field operators, are proposing to capture this anthropogenic CO2 and either store it in depleted reservoirs or saline aquifers (carbon capture and storage, CCS), or use it for ‘Enhanced Oil Recovery’ (EOR) in depleting oil and gas fields. This would involve extensive onshore and offshore pipeline systems. The decline of oil and gas production of reservoirs beyond economic feasibility will require the decommissioning onshore and offshore facilities post-production. This creates a possible opportunity for using existing pipeline infrastructure. Conversions of pipelines from natural gas service to CO2 service for EOR have been done in the United States. However, the differing sources of CO2 and the differing requirements for EOR and CCS play a significant part in allowing the re-use of existing infrastructure. The effect of compositions, the phase of transportation, the original pipeline specifications, and also the pipeline route require major studies prior to allowing re-use. This paper will first review the requirements for specifying the purity of the CO2 for CCS and to highlight the implications that the presence of impurities and the current water specifications for pipelines has on the phase diagram and the associated physical properties of the CO2 stream. A ‘best’ and ‘worst’ case impurity specification will be identified. Then an analysis on the impact and subsequent validation, of equations of state based on available experimental data on the phase modelling of anthropogenic CO2 is presented. A case study involving an existing 300km gas pipeline in the National Transmission System (NTS) in the UK is then modelled, to demonstrate the feasibility of using this pipeline to transport anthropogenic CO2. The various issues involved for the selected ‘best’ and ‘worst’ case specification are also covered. This is then followed by an investigation of the options for transport in the ‘gas’ phase and ‘supercritical’ phases, and also identifying the limitations on re-using pipeline infrastructure for CCS.

Marine urbanization: an ecological framework for designing multifunctional artificial structures

“…Marine sediments also have the ability to store CO 2 (Schrag 2009), but transport logistics prevent the practical realization of this solution (Golomb 1993). Existing pipelines associated with decommissioned infrastructure may be used to transport CO 2 to deep-sea sediments for storage (Seevam et al 2010). Although potentially feasible, large-scale enrichment of marine sediments requires further scrutiny, given that the ecological consequences are not yet fully understood.…”

“…Marine sediments also have the ability to store CO 2 (Schrag 2009), but transport logistics prevent the practical realization of this solution (Golomb 1993). Existing pipelines associated with decommissioned infrastructure may be used to transport CO 2 to deep‐sea sediments for storage (Seevam et al . 2010).…”

Enhancing Carbon Capture and Storage Deployment in the EU: A Sectoral Analysis of a Ton-Based Incentive Strategy

“…With the number of planned CCS projects rising rapidly, the challenges of CO 2 transport via pipelines must be observed, including the repurposing of the existing pipelines [53]. When considering repurposing, the examined priority categories include the level of impurities in the CO 2 stream, the quantity of captured CO 2 that is to be transported, the critical pressure of the mixture, the potential for occurrence of the two-phase flow, and the existing maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) of the pipeline to identify the requirements for a use change [54]. Additionally, the presence of an existing pipeline can bring direct savings for CCS projects, and if the emitters use the same transportation infrastructure (share costs), the capital costs for transport form a reasonably low share of 10-20% in the total costs [55].…”

Study of the consequences of CO2 released from high-pressure pipelines

“…There are three main process routes for capturing CO 2 from a power plant: post-combustion, pre-combustion and oxyfuel. Table 1 lists three typical compositions of CO 2 mixtures captured from the three process routes (Seevam et al, 2010), representing typical CO 2 mixture compositions for Australian conditions.…”