Call 2 – Cross Cutting Issues

Project overview Measurement and monitoring of CO₂ flows across the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) chain are essential to ensure accurate accounting of captured CO₂ and help prevent leaking during transportation to storage sites. The significant changes in physical properties of CO₂ depending on its state (gas, liquid, two-phase or supercritical) mean that CO₂ flows in CCS pipelines are complex by their nature. Meanwhile, impurities in a CO₂ pipeline also make the flow more likely in the form of two-phase mixture. Despite difficulties due to the changes in CO₂ properties, there has been very little research into metering issues of CO₂ flows. The aim of this project is to develop a cutting-edge technology for CO₂ flows metering in CCS pipelines.

The objectives are as follows:

• To establish a mass reference platform for CO₂ flowmeter calibration;
• To develop a prototype multi-modal sensing system and data fusion algorithms for mass flow metering of CO₂;
• To evaluate the performance of the multi-modal sensing system under single-phase and two-phase CO₂ flow conditions.

Main project funder category: UKCCSRC – Call 2
Funder name: UKCCSRC
Project date: Mar 2019
Lead institution: University of Kent
Principal investigator(s): Y. Yan
Category: CCI/Measurement
Primary research theme: CO₂ Properties

Monitoring the composition of mixtures which are of relevance to Carbon Capture and Storage pipelines is of high importance for the safe transportation of CO₂ during the CCS process. Captured CO₂ will contain varying amounts of impurities such as N₂, H₂, O2 and H₂O. These are components which greatly affect the phase behaviour of the captured CO₂. Being able to quantifiably monitor the composition and components of CCS-relevant mixtures is key for (i) safety; (ii) determining standard operating conditions.

This project, incorporating several novel techniques, have been used to measure:

• The phase behaviour and thermodynamic properties of CO₂ containing varying amounts of impurities in order to improve or validate existing models of CCS relevant gas mixtures.
• The solubility of water in impure CO₂ CCS mixtures.

Main project funder category: UKCCSRC – Call 2
Funder name: UKCCSRC
Project date: Mar 2019
Lead institution: University of Nottingham
Principal investigator(s): M.W. George
Co-Investigator(s): M. Poliakoff
Category: CCI/Transport
Primary research theme: CO₂ Transport

Captured carbon dioxide(CO₂) from CCS operations needs to be transported to the storage location. Metering of the flow could be challenging due to the presence of impurities as well as unusual physical properties of the CO₂ with impurities. The metering accuracy must be within the range of ±1.5% by mass according to the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) regulations. However, no investigations have been performed to evaluate the performance of flowmeters with pressurized CO₂ at operational CCS conditions.

Aim and Objectives

The goal of project is to investigate the performance of Coriolis mass flowmeter with high CO₂ content mixtures.

Specific objectives of the project include:

• To study the effect of impurities on the accuracy of the Coriolis flow meter.
• To investigate the performance of Coriolis flow meter at conditions likely to happen in the CCS operations.
• Evaluation of costs for the deployment of Coriolis flow meter in CCS operations.

Main project funder category: UKCCSRC – Call 2
Funder name: UKCCSRC
Project date: Mar 2019
Lead institution: Heriot-Watt University
Principal investigator(s): M.M. Maroto-Valer
Co-Investigator(s): M. Nazeri
Category: CCI/Transport
Primary research theme: CO₂ Transport

Pipelines are acknowledged as one of the most efficient and cost-effective methods for transporting large volumes of various fluids over long distances and therefore the majority of proposed schemes for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) involve high pressure pipelines transporting CO₂. In order to manage the risk in the event of the failure of a carbon dioxide (CO₂) pipeline, it is a core requirement that a separation distance between pipelines and habitable dwellings is defined to ensure a consistent level of risk. For natural gas pipelines, existing and accepted Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) techniques can be implemented to define safety zones based on the thermal hazards. However for CO₂ pipelines, for which the hazard is toxic, the consequences of failure need to be considered differently as they relate to the toxic dosage that an individual receives during the release event. In addition, the dose received by the individual, in the unlikely event of a pipeline rupture, is dependent on the location of the individual during the event. The aim of this project is to develop validated and computationally efficient shelter and escape models describing the consequences to the surrounding population of a CO₂ release from CCS transportation infrastructure. The models will allow pipeline operators, regulators and standard setters to make informed and appropriate decisions regarding pipeline safety and emergency response.

Main project funder category: UKCCSRC – Call 2
Funder name: UKCCSRC
Project date: Mar 2019
Lead institution: University of Strathclyde
Principal investigator(s): J.M. Race
Co-Investigator(s): B. Wetenhall
Category: CCI/Transport
Primary research theme: CO₂ Transport