IMPACTS Newsletter 2014-02 1

5th Newsletter, August 2015

Dear reader,

Before you is the fifth edition of the IMPACTS newsletter, covering the period January – June 2015. The newsletters inform partners and stakeholders on the developments in the EU FP7 IMPACTS project1. You can navigate through this document by clicking on the elements of the content list (below).

Previous newsletters:

Newsletter 1, January – July 2013

Newsletter 2, August – December 2013

Newsletter 3, January – July 2014

Newsletter 4, August - December 2014

Contents of this newsletter About IMPACTS

Events & meetings

Current activities

Publications

Contact information

About IMPACTS IMPACTS is a collaborative project co-funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework

Programme. The goal of the IMPACTS project is to close knowledge gaps related to transport and

storage of CO2-rich mixtures from various CO2 sources to enable realisation of safer and more cost-

efficient solutions for CCS. The results of IMPACTS will help to ensure safe and reliable design,

construction and operation of CO2 pipelines and injection equipment, and safe long-term geological

storage of CO2. The project started on 1 January 2013 and has a duration of three years. It has 12

research performing partners and 5 funding partners. You can find more information on the project

website.

1 If you wish to receive this newsletter, but are not on the mailing list, please send an e-mail to an.hilmo@sintef.no.

IMPACTS Newsletter 2014-02 2

Events & meetings

Paper presented at the EU-Korea mission, Jeju Island, February 2015

The IMPACTS project was presented In South Korea, in February 2015. A member of the EU mission

to South Korea, Filip Neele (TNO) presented the project to Korean researchers in a meeting

dedicated to setting up research ties between Europe and South Korea. South Korea is working on

plans for a large-scale CCS project, with offshore storage and transport by ship; the issues studied by

IMPACTS will be relevant for their projects. No follow-up has evolved yet.

CO2Quest workshop, March 26-27, Athens, Greece, 2015

This workshop was organised by CO2Quest with the content including presentations from both

IMPACTS and IoLiCAP, an FP7 project looking at the use of Ionic liquids for CO2 absorption. Athens

was an interesting venue, not only for the quality of the hotel and historical surroundings, but also to

gain a first-hand insight into the current Greek economic situation as experienced by the local

people.

The two-day event was well attended with around 80 people present and proved a very useful

opportunity to compare notes on approach and initial results in particular between CO2Quest and

IMPACTS. Presentations were given from IMPACTS by Xiaoxian Yang (Tsinghua), Roland Span (RUB)

and Charles Eickhoff (PEL). There was also a number of more general presentations which provided

very interesting international perspectives on a wide range of CCS-related topics.

The agenda of the meeting can be found here; the presentations can be downloaded here.

Executive Board meeting, June 16, Trondheim, Norway

The fourth EB meeting was held in June, in Trondheim, just before the TCCS-8 conference and was

hosted by SINTEF.

IMPACTS Newsletter 2014-02 3

Stakeholder meeting, June 16, Trondheim, Norway

An IMPACTS workshop was held during prior to the TCCS-8 conference in Trondheim on June 16,

2015. A blog on the workshop is available on the IMPACTS website (here). It is repeated below.

IMPACTS is a PAN European research project where researchers from academia and Industry from

nine different countries collaborates on investigating impact of impurities in CO2 captured from

power plants and other CO2-intensive industries on CO2 transport and storage. IMPACTS has

generated a large amount of new knowledge in this area and is an example of how wide reaching

research programs where different groups look into different aspects of the same topic brings the

knowledge base forward while ensuring that the results are aligned.

One of the key goals of IMPACTS has been to determine the scientific basic for which impurities that

can be acceptable for a CO2 transport system, avoiding too stringent constraints for the chains. So

far IMPACTS has generated a comprehensive Inventory of CO2 mixtures where a framework for

characterization of impact of impurities on CCS systems has been defined. The TREND software

development is essential. It may be useful for a lot of different industries and may possibly become

an ISO standard. A Report on knowledge gaps has been produced and a better equation of state has

been developed for CO2 mixed with all the potential contaminants expected in captured CO2. An

overview of knowledge regarding corrosion of pipelines in CO2 service has been established and

experimental work has determined effect of CO2 supercritical mixtures on corrosion of pipeline

materials. Seven representative CCS chains have been formulated. These cover the full range of

compositions likely to be encountered in CCS projects over the next 10-25 years. These are ready for

use in the analysis of economic, operational and risk effects of impurities. A start has been made on

the construction of the economic model.

The results illustrated how important it is that processing, compression and transport need to be

viewed as one, and optimized together and that reliable numbers are arrived at for what can be

acceptable in amounts of impurities. Also acknowledging that transport also requires compression

and processing, and how impurities affect this. A presentation from Geir Skaugen, Big CCS project

illustrated how 4% of impurities in the CO2 can increase the power consumption for compression by

50%. The effect of impurities are most severe at low pressures i.e storage pressures.

In the final six months of IMPACTS the focus will be on firming up the final experimental results,

quality assurance and dissemination of the results in particular to the international standardization

comittees such as the ISO committee on Transport of CO2.

IMPACTS Newsletter 2014-02 4

Karl Erik Karlsen of Gassnova speaking at the IMPACTS workshop on CO2 specifications in

current CCS Projects.

IMPACTS Newsletter 2014-02 5

IMPACTS Workshop Programme – June 16, 2015

14.30: Welcome/opening (Marit Mazzetti, SINTEF)

14.40: CO2 specifications in current CCS Projects (Karl Erik Karlsen, Gassnova)

14.55: Consequences of impurities on CO2 transport chains – a techno economic analysis from

two case studies (Geir Skaugen, SINTEF ER)

15.30: Key results from R&D in IMPACTS (Morten Hammer, SINTEF)

• WP1.2 Thermo-Physical Behaviour

• WP1.3 Transient Fluid Dynamics

• WP1.4 Corrosion Rates and Stress Limits

• WP1.5 Chemical & Physical Effects on Storage

• WP2.1 Operational and Material Effects

• WP2.3 Impurities Risk Catalogue

16.05: Impact of IMPACTS results (Charles Eickhoff, PEL)

• Derivation of Cost Functions – example(s)

• Use in CCS Chain Project Model

16.20: IMPACTS activities (Filip Neele, TNO)

16.40: Panel discussion (all presenters)

17:00: Finish

IMPACTS Newsletter 2014-02 6

Current activities

WP1.2 Thermophysical behaviour of CO2 mixtures

The WP1.2 team at Ruhr University in Bochum (RUB)made good progress towards finalising the new

CO2 mixture property reference model. This model, TREND, is expected to be available soon after

the Summer, from the RUB website.

WP1.3 Transient fluid dynamics of CO2 mixtures

During the first half of 2015, WP1.3 has focused on improving the efficiency of flow simulations of

CO2 mixtures in pipelines. When simulating pipeline flow, much of the computational complexity lies

in thermodynamic calculations that relate energy and density to pressure and temperature. The

efficiency has been improved by saving the results of the thermodynamic calculations in a large table

at the start of the simulation, instead of performing costly calculations at each time step. The

pressure and temperature can then be easily calculated by interpolating between points in the table.

This approach has reduced the computational time by a factor of about 30.

The interpolation algorithms have been implemented in a general framework designed to handle

several equations of state. So far, the algorithms have been applied to the Span-Wagner equation of

state. They will later be expanded to use the EOS-CG equation of state, which is well suited for

calculating the properties of CO2 mixtures.

WP1.4 Corrosion potentials in CO2 infrastructure

The stress corrosion tests have been completed. Tests have been carried out in different CO2

mixtures on four steel grades (ranging from X60 to X70). Several testing conditions have been

adopted for the test varying the H2 content, the water content and the temperature. Main results

highlighted that in all the testing condition general corrosion has been observed. The combined

effect of the presence of H2 and the high temperature seems to promote Stress Oriented Hydrogen

Induced Cracking (SOHIC).

The uniform corrosion tests have been performed on steel grades ranging from X60 to X80. Tests

have been completed including the sample post analysis. The results are being analysed in details.

The simulation of the corrosion rates calculation is currently ongoing.

WP1.5 Chemical and physical effects of impurities on CO2 storage

The ongoing development of the understanding of chemical and physical effects of impurities on CO2

storage enhances our knowledge of important key processes. Small-scale experiments conducted by

CUIDEN and GFZ on potential storage and seal formations are used to identify and verify these key

processes of trace impurities like SO2 or O2.

Aiming to understand the physicochemical effects of impurities on CO2 storage, a MATLAB radial

composite numeric model for fractured reservoirs has been developed by CIUDEN. In the initial

stage, this multispecies and multiphase model was developed to simulate SO2 and O2 as impurities

IMPACTS Newsletter 2014-02 7

blended with the CO2 stream, also incorporating a sensitivity analysis to study the long-term effects

for those impurities. The next challenging step will consist in the model-tuning based on the results

obtained during the injection tests performed on the CIUDEN pilot site located in Hontomín (N

Spain).

Simultaneously small-scale experiments on chemical and physical effects of impurities on reservoir

system are being conducted in CIUDEN laboratory. During these lab tests, different reservoir

samples are being tested including both storage and seal formations. The methodology will be

performed as follows: maintaining as reference Hontomín storage conditions in the equipment, i.e.

150 barg and 45 ºC approximately, a stream containing SO2 in CO2 and NO2 in CO2 will be injected in

each sample during one week.

In addition, the effect of SO2 as impurity is more specified due to conducted geochemical reservoir

simulations by TNO. The model show clear physicochemical effects on porosity and injectivity of

discrete CO2-SO2 mixtures. The effect is induced by the predicted fast mineral precipitation near the

wellbore that decrease the porosity and therefore the injectivity. Based on these sensitivity studies it

could be shown that small amounts of SO2 are negligible compared to pure CO2, but become

significant with increasing concentrations. These results reveal that chemical reactivity indeed

influence the storage capacity to a certain degree.

WP2.1 Operational and material effects of impurities in CO2 streams

Significant advances have been made during first quarter of 2015 in relation with operational

conditions and material effects of impurities in CO2 streams. With the aim of upgrading to large-scale

and real conditions, transport and storage activities have been tested in CIUDEN facilities.

In this sense, tasks related to CO2 transport were fulfilled during first quarter of 2015 in CIUDEN

Centre located in Cubillos del Sil (NW Spain). Pressure, temperature, density variations and corrosion

were continuously measured along the 3,000 metres pipeline installation where the CO2 stream has

been also injected with O2, H2O and SO2. As a result of these tests, outcomes show that corrosion

rates are increased with a very low concentration of contaminants (e.g. 100 ppm O2 and 100 ppm

H2O).

Furthermore, depressurization studies were completed to assess CO2 depressurization behaviour

obtaining two main results. On the one hand 8 h/12 m3 depressurization times were measured

avoiding CO2 ice formation and pipe block; on the other hand, an average depressurization rate of 31

barg/min was obtained.

Next steps will be focused on storage test performance carrying out injection-extraction tests that

have been conducted in July. Situated in Hontomín (N Spain), CIUDEN plant allows carrying out

experiments in real scale in deep saline formations to develop CO2 storage strategies and aims to

acquire new knowledge regarding CO2 injection and monitoring techniques which will lead to an

increase in technical feasibility and safety issues.

IMPACTS Newsletter 2014-02 8

Fig. 1 CIUDEN CO2 transport facility. In the photos, the different coils are shown; in total, 3000

meters piping length with 2” diameter.

For this purpose and within the framework of IMPACTS project, the three-day campaign consisted in

the injection of 150 tons of CO2 containing O2, N2 and SO2 in the fractured reservoir. Additionally,

fluid samples extracted from this reservoir are being weekly analyzed using a FTIR analyzer.

Previously to this task, and in order to set the baseline, pure CO2 has been previously injected and

samples were treated in the same FTIR analyzer. Conclusions from this stage are expected to be

reached throughout third trimester of the year.

IMPACTS Newsletter 2014-02 9

Fig. 2 CIUDEN CO2 storage rig. In the photo, the main CO2 pipe rack is shown; at the end of the rack, it

is located the storage tanks.

WP2.2 Techno-economic analyses of impacts of CO2 quality

The work in WP2.2 has been focussed on refining the economic model in order that the effects of

impurities all the way down the CCS chains can be calculated in terms of the costs incurred and

hence being able to look at the economic trade-offs that are possible.

This has involved deriving and refining the cost data in the model, not in the sense of accurate

overall costings, but in relation to the changes of equipment and materials that are needed if

impurity levels are to be reduced at capture source or are to be tolerated and accommodated

through the rest of the CCS chain. It has also involved attempting to extract the technical effects of

different impurities in the CO2 stream as and when the results emerge from the other IMPACTS WPs

and to convert these into required technology changes along the CCS chains for which effective

costings and hence cost functions can be derived.

WP2.3 Risk assessment

The work on the risk assessment framework for real CO2 mixtures has started. An analysis has been

made of the external risks of pipeline transport of CO2 with impurities, comparing the risks

associated with the CO2 itself with those linked to the impurities within the CO2. As an example, one

impurity that could pose a serious risk is H2S, although it is not expected that H2S will be found in

IMPACTS Newsletter 2014-02 10

captured CO2 streams in high concentrations. This work will be completed after the Summer and will

be laid down in a report.

WP3.1 IMPACTS recommendations

The WP3.1 team started the construction of the framework for the recommendations from the

IMPACTS project. This framework will form the basis of the final report from the project, that will

pull together material from all work packages to formulate recommendations related to the quality

of CO2 for future CCS projects. This work is ongoing, absorbing results from the various work

packages as these produce their final reports.

WP3.2 IMPACTS Toolbox

The work on the Toolbox, a collection of highlights, main results, conclusions and recommendations

from the IMPACTS project, has started. The Toolbox will be available in the form of a pdf, that

presents each of its elements on one, or a few, pages. These will typically show a graph or a chart,

with a brief explanation of the background and the use of the results, and provide one or more links

to locations where further information can be found.

WP3.3 Dissemination plan and IMPACTS workshop

Preparations for the CCS workshop to be held in Bukarest, Romania, in October, have started. The

workshop will be aimed at both students and representatives from industry and is planned to last

four days. Tentative dates are October 19-22, 2015.

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Publications and presentations In the past period no deliverables were produced.

Presentations and posters at conferences

14th Annual Conference on Carbon Capture Utilization Storage, April, Pittsburgh, 2015.

Sigmund Ø. Størset, Marit J. Mazzetti, Morten Hammer, Charles Eickhoff, Filip Neele, Daniël Loeve; IMPACTS: The impact of the quality of CO2 on transport and storage behavior

TCCS-8, Trondheim, June 17-18, 2015.

IMPACTS: framework for risk assessment of CO2 transport and storage infrastructure considering the impact of CO2 quality; Anastasia Isaenko, Angunn Engebø, Mark Spruijt, Andrew Brown

Numerical modelling of physicochemical effects of discrete CO2-SO2 mixtures; potential cost effects for injection and storage of CO2 in a sandstone aquifer; Waldmann, S., Hofstee, C., Loeve, D., Koenen, M., and Neele, F.

IMPACTS: Effect of CO2 impurities on storage opportunities; Hanstock, D.J. and Eickhoff C.E.

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Contact information

Nils A Røkke, Chairman of the Executive Board, Nils.A.Rokke@sintef.no

Sigmund Størset, Coordinator, Sigmund.Storset@sintef.no

Marit Mazzetti, Project manager, Marit.Mazzetti@sintef.no

An Hilmo, Project secretary, An.Hilmo@sintef.no

Website: www.sintef.no/impacts

Newsletter: prepared by TNO, The Netherlands, Filip.Neele@tno.nl