Large-scale deployment of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is an essential part of the solution to reach the ambitious targets for greenhouse gas reduction set out by the Paris Agreement in 2015. This requires the testing of technologies for CO2 capture, transport, and storage on a relevant scale.
In the ECCSEL Research Infrastructure for Norwegian Full-Scale CCS (ECCSEL NFS) project five world-class experimental facilities were built and upgraded, and a sixth is planned, which will make it possible to close critical knowledge gaps that would otherwise impede wide-scale CCS deployment.
The facilities covered by the project are:
-MPSolv upgrade of a facility for capturing CO2 from exhaust gas with a new desorber (stripper) column capable of desorbing CO2 at 15-20 bar pressure. The sub-project was completed in 2022.
-FMet: Design and planning of a facility for testing flow meters on a relevant industrial scale. Verified flow meters are necessary for CCS systems to be certified under the EU’s Carbon Trading System (ETS), and hence important for developing sustainable business models. The sub-project was completed in 2020.
-FASafe: New rig for investigating safety systems for pressure relief of CO2 work as intended on large scale, including preventing dry ice blocking of safety valves. This will be very important for ship transport of CO2. The sub-project was completed in 2023.
-FALCON upgrade: Rig for investigating flow, heat transfer, phase transition, and start-up/shut-in phenomena in pipelines and wells for CO2 with the multi-phase flow. The sub-project was completed in 2022.
-DPCI upgrade: Set-up for investigating the effect of impurities in CO2 regarding corrosion. The sub-project was completed in 2022.
-CODAS: New facility for monitoring CO2 injection with Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) using cost-effective optical fiber to measure microseismicity. The sub-project was completed in 2023.
The facilities developed in the project will be made available for use by researchers and institutions around the world through the ECCSEL website. ECCSEL encourages open access to data and active sharing of results through multiple channels. ECCSEL also encourages users to publish their results.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a necessary technology to reach the emission reduction targets set by the 2015 Paris agreement. To deploy CCS on a large scale, testing of capture, transport and storage technologies at relevant scale is needed.
The ECCSEL Research Infrastructure (RI) for Norwegian Full-Scale CCS will construct and upgrade five world-class facilities and design a sixth to close critical knowledge gaps for wider deployment of CCS:
- Medium pressure solvent capture (MPSolv) to test solvents for post-combustion capture at pressures of 20-30 bar (upgrade) .
- Test facility for fiscal metering (FMet) to test and calibrate flow meters so that they comply with Emissions Trading System (ETS) regulations (design)
- Flow assurance in safety systems (FASafe) to determine how a CO2 vent system should be designed to avoid dry-ice clogging (new).
- Flow and heat transfer in multiphase CO2 pipelines and wells (FALCON) to study flow regimes, phase transition and shut-in/restart scenarios (upgrade).
- Dense-phase CO2 impurity test systems (DPCI) to determine the effects of impurities on corrosion in CO2 systems (upgrade).
- CO2 injection monitoring using Distributed Acoustic Sensing (CODAS) to monitor induced seismicity using cost-efficient optical fibres (new).
The facilities developed in the project will be available for use by researchers and institutions world-wide through the ECCSEL web site. ECCSEL specifies an open access policy of data, an active dissemination policy in multiple channels, and an encouragement for the users to publish their results. Workshops with user groups will be held, to ensure high relevance of the planned RI.