Pipelines for transporting CO2 in the UK

Abstract

Abstract National Grid is currently pursuing plans to develop a pipeline system in the North Yorkshire and Humber areas of the United Kingdom (UK) to transport dense phase carbon dioxide (CO2) from a major industrial emitter to a saline aquifer off the Yorkshire coast. The company's longer term aspiration is to develop the first pipeline into a network configuration that links up multiple CO2 emitters in the Yorkshire and Humberside area. The planned developments are supported by European Union grants which have been used to partly fund the required technical studies. CO2 is a hazardous substance which in the unlikely event of an accidental release, could cause harm to people. Compliance with UK safety legislation requires compliance with recognised pipeline codes. Currently, the UK pipeline standard and code for high pressure pipelines do not directly apply to dense phase CO2, but do allow the use of quantified risk assessmnt (QRA) in cases which are not fully covered by the documents. National Grid has completed the COOLTRANS (CO2 Liquid pipeline TRANSportation) research programme, and the results of this research have been used to develop a comprehensive QRA methodology for dense phase CO2 pipelines, which has been used in routeing and design studies to ensure that the principles of the UK standards and codes are correctly applied. This paper describes the routeing and design principles specified in the UK pipeline standard and code of practice, and explains how the COOLTRANS research findings have been used in the development and application of a QRA methodology for CO2 pipelines, which ensures the principles are applied to these pipelines.