AssureFlow-CCS: Advanced Strategies for CO2 Flow Assurance (Flexible Funding 2024)

Dr Aliakbar Hassanpouryouzband, University of Edinburgh, was awarded funding in the UKCCSRC’s Flexible Funding 2024 call to look at “AssureFlow-CCS: Advanced Strategies for CO2 Flow Assurance”.

Why AssureFlow-CCS is needed

For CCS to work at scale, CO₂ streams must be transported and stored safely under a wide range of conditions. In practice, captured CO₂ often contains impurities, which can affect hydrate formation, salt solubility, and corrosion. These processes directly influence flow assurance and the long-term security of geological storage.

The AssureFlow-CCS project set out to better understand these challenges by combining targeted experiments with improved models, generating the evidence needed to predict how impure CO₂ behaves underground and how to manage associated risks. Alongside this, the project has also explored how CO₂ storage can occur together with hydrogen generation in reactive ultramafic systems, providing a dual pathway for climate mitigation and clean energy production.

Building new capability

A major achievement of the project has been the development of a state-of-the-art high-pressure, high-temperature reaction vessel. This system tracks H₂, H₂S, O₂, pH, Eh, conductivity, pressure, and temperature in real time, allowing researchers to observe rock–fluid reactions as they happen. The device was built with support from UKCCSRC and a University of Edinburgh POT bid.

Figure 1. High-pressure experimental setup developed in AssureFlow-CCS for real-time monitoring of CO₂–rock–fluid reactions

What we found

Figure 2. Presenting AssureFlow-CCS results at a Petrobras event in Rio de Janeiro (2025)

Early results show that CO₂ impurities can significantly alter fluid chemistry and reaction pathways, with consequences for hydrate stability, salt precipitation, and corrosion. At the same time, experiments confirmed that hydrogen generation can proceed alongside CO₂ mineralisation, highlighting the potential of combined storage and energy production. These insights are critical for improving predictions of flow behaviour in storage sites and ensuring the reliability of CCS infrastructure.

The findings have been shared at international events, including the EAGE Annual Meeting (Toulouse 2025), a Petrobras event in Rio de Janeiro, and a summer school in Denmark, all partly supported by UKCCSRC.

Publications supported by AssureFlow-CCS

The project has contributed to two major publications:

Nature Communications (2025): Thermal Marangoni natural convection enables directional transport across immiscible liquids https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-60930-y

Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews (2025): Emerging potential unconventional applications of gas hydrate technologies in sustainable and environmental industries https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032125006604

What’s next

The team will extend experiments to longer durations and more complex CO₂ mixtures, providing the data needed to refine models and support large-scale CCS deployment. By tackling the critical issue of CO₂ flow assurance while demonstrating the potential for CO₂ storage with hydrogen generation, AssureFlow-CCS is helping deliver safer, more effective carbon storage and new opportunities for clean energy.

Read more on Ali’s Flexible Funding 2024 project page.