Assessing Coriolis meter performance in multicomponent carbon dioxide-rich mixtures

Abstract

Accurate flow measurement plays a pivotal role in monitoring CO2 flows across the CCS value chain. This not only bolsters the overall business model of the CCS industry, but also ensures adherence to environmental legislations and regulatory requirements. Unlike other industrial process fluids, such as water, oil & natural gas, it is unclear whether current commercially available metering technologies can meet the requisite accuracy levels, specifically the ±2.5 % recommended within the EU/UK European Trading Scheme for CO2 mass transfer. Accordingly, the aim of this work was to gain a comprehensive understanding of CO2 flow measurement within the context of CCS transport conditions. Firstly, GERG-2008 equation of state was implemented on REFPROP v10 to predict the optimal transport conditions for CO2-rich mixtures and to understand the influence of non-condensable gas impurities in CCS flow operations. Then, a dedicated laboratory-scale gravimetric flow facility was designed and used to evaluate the performance of a Coriolis flow meter under gas, liquid, and supercritical flow conditions. The results indicate that the impurities have a relatively minor impact on the measurement performance of the meter, with maximum mean absolute measurement errors of 0.25 %, 0.12 %, and 0.28 % observed in gas, liquid, and supercritical CO2 flow conditions, respectively. The findings support the use of Coriolis metering technology as a reliable option for CCS metering, underscoring its suitability for accurate measurements in single-phase CO2 transport applications.