UKCCSRC Knowledge Exchange Conference 2024 – Parallel 2b: CO2 Transport (ECR Meeting Fund)

Ubong Ekanem (University of Strathclyde) and Saheed Bello (University of Cambridge) share their takeaways from “Parallel 2b: CO2 Transport” at the UKCCSRC Knowledge Exchange Conference 2024.

The session on CO2 Tranport was chaired by Dr. Ben Wethall and had three presentations. The first was made by Dr. Abubakr Ayub Sheikh, a Research Fellow from Teesside University. His research aims to assess the techno-economic feasibility of creating a ‘Northern Ireland/Great Britain Green Shipping Corridor’ connecting Northern Ireland (Larne) with Northwest England (Liverpool). The study which seeks to utilize a roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) freight ferry and container vessels for transport of trailers, will have the vessels powered by hydrogen, produced onboard through the reforming of green methanol. This methanol would be transported in road-mobile ISO tank containers and synthesised at the Port of Larne using green H₂ and CO₂ as part of the Power-to-X Project.

The project’s key innovation lies in its circular CO₂ economy. CO₂ captured from the onboard reformer would be returned to the methanol synthesis plant in the same containers used to deliver the methanol. The port-based green methanol plant would harness renewable energy (wind/solar) to operate a PEM electrolyser, generating green hydrogen for a catalytic reactor. This Green Shipping Corridor would achieve ‘true-zero’ emissions without relying on limited bio-derived or direct air-captured CO2 sources. Moreover, it would eliminate the need for carbon offsetting to meet net-zero goals.

The second speaker, Dr. Fengyuan Zhang, a Research Fellow from the University College London, presented on “An optimisation model for the design of multi-modal CO₂ transportation in carbon capture and storage supply chain”. He formulated a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model to optimise the design of a multi-modal CO₂ transportation chain for CCS, for a point-to-point system joining six onshore emitters in Germany with a total of 2.6 Mt CO₂ captured per year, three interim storage at the port, and a storage site at Northern Lights.

The proposed model, which accounts for the costs of CO₂ conditioning, interim storage and liquefaction, considers several potential CO2 transport routes: the transport modes include pipelines, ships, rail and trucks. He was able to show that trucks are more economical and flexible for short-distance and small-scale CO₂ transport. However, as the transport volume increases, a combination of trucks and pipelines becomes the most cost-effective approach, while exclusively use of pipelines is optimal for even larger volumes.

The last presentation for the session was made by Dr. Teke Xu, a Research fellow from University College London, and titled “A Review of Problems and Methods of Optimising Sensor Placement for CO₂ Pipeline Transport Systems”. Teke reviewed the optimisation problems and methods developed for non-CO₂ pipeline transport monitoring systems, with a focus on their potential application to CO₂ pipelines. The work identifies key objectives for monitoring CO₂ pipelines, classifies the optimization problems and related mathematical algorithms for sensor placement, and outlines relevant optimization criteria, constraints, and performance indicators. The review also includes a discussion of applicability and limitations of the identified methods to CO₂ pipeline systems.

Afterwards, the UKCCSRC’s Knowledge and Exchange Conference 2024 finished with a keynote address by Chet Biliyok, from Petrofac, a scientific industry expert who shared his several project management experiences. He also provided current and potential job opportunities for early career researchers aiming to work at Petrofac. The UKCCSRC Director made a fantastic closing remarks with awards. All participants took a nice lunch to add calories as they left. In fact, it was an excellent meeting to nourish the knowledge of CCUS technologies in combating climate change. Uncountable thanks to the organizers and the participants!