CO2 Pipeline risk assessment and comparison for the midcontinent United States

Abstract

A comprehensive quantitative risk assessment for the construction and operation of CO2 transportation networks considered for the Midcontinent United States was conducted. The results showed risks associated with CO2 pipelines were significantly less than those of other pipeline types. The assessment used four conceptual pipelines of different lengths to discuss risks operators may see. The assessment evaluated the risk associated with construction and operation using data from the US Occupational Safety Health Administration to determine the risk of injury or death for pipeline workers and data from the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration for CO2, natural gas distribution, natural gas transmission/gathering, and non-CO2 hazardous liquid pipelines to develop quantitative likelihood and severity values leading to risk values. The data for the assessment covered incidents from 2010 to 2017 for CO2 pipelines. The average risk for construction and 30 years of operation for four CO2 pipeline configurations ranging between 79 and 1,546 miles in length was found. The construction and operational risk averaged between $1,400,521 (approximately $0.02/tonne of CO2) for the shorter pipeline (79 miles) and $27,481,939 (approximately $0.10/tonne of CO2) for a longer pipeline (1,546 miles). The largest risks of fatality for CO2 pipelines comes from vehicle transport. The largest operational risk to the pipeline was due to leakage. Public pipeline opposition is also a significant risk; it was not quantified but is addressed.