Integrating carbon capture with transportation and storage

Abstract

Abstract Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been identified as a critical enabling technology to mitigate the large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emitted from coal-fired power plants and subsequently discharged to the atmosphere. While large-scale CO 2 injection in geologic formations associated with enhanced oil recovery operations have been ongoing for over 30 years, different technical challenges face the injection of CO 2 into saline reservoirs sourced from utility boilers. Beyond the high costs of capture, operational reliability related to the integration of capture with pipeline transport and injections are components of CCS with very little operational experience. Some issues unique to utility boiler capture include planned and forced outages, generation loading, and changes in CO 2 purity. These operational issues can only be resolved through the integration of capture, transportation, and injection operations in demonstration-scale projects. Parametric testing provides an opportunity to evaluate how the integration of transportation and injection for storage respond to changes in plant operations. This paper will introduce a CCS demonstration-scale research program that involves a carbon capture unit designed to supply up to 500 metric tons (tonnes) per day (182,500 tonnes per year), a 19-kilometer pipeline and injection into a subsurface saline reservoir located at 3,060 meters below ground surface. The project will provide a test bed to begin to understand and resolve the challenges of integrating the key components of CCS with utility boilers. The paper will provide an update on the status of the project, covering the permits required to get the demonstration in motion, the geologic assessment of the proposed injection target reservoirs, and the engineering design for the injection and monitoring program.