Techno-economic Analysis of the Impurity Impact on the CO2 Transportation

Abstract

This dissertation conducts a technical and economic analysis of the impact of the impurities on the CO2 transportation in the Humber cluster over a distance of 364.5 km through onshore pipelines. This analysis aims to give an indication of whether transporting relatively impure CO2 to a shared conditioning unit at the gathering hub is more economically viable than having lots of individual conditioning facilities at the source. The analysis includes conditioning facilities after the capture process and pipeline design. Different impurity level scenarios, including major non-condensable gases O2, Ar, and N2 with CO2, were investigated. In the technical analysis the impact of impurities on the thermodynamic properties of CO2 stream including VLE region, density, compressibility factor, viscosity and speed of sound were examined. The cost model includes CAPEX, OPEX of the conditioning units and pipelines and the electricity cost influenced by the conditioning unit. The impact on power demands and pipeline diameters is examined, revealing a correlation between elevated impurity levels and raised overall power consumption as well as an increase in pipeline diameter. Several key conclusions have been drawn to demonstrate the cost effect, showing an increase in the low CO2 purity scenario compared to the ideal scenario of 21.5%. A sensitivity analysis shows the economic visibility of shared conditioning units with varying electricity costs.