Establishing Key Process Design Considerations for Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) Towards Decarbonization of Existing Assets Operations

Abstract With the net zero emission (NZE) commitment by 2050 following COP26 being pledged by country and industrial leaders, the technology focus for CCUS has shifted from high-CO2 gas field development to also include capturing CO2 from other industrial emission sources e.g. flaring and gas turbines. With the expanding scopes, careful consideration especially from process design perspective needs to be taken to ensure the overall CCUS conceptual design is techno-commercially feasible and viable to meet the CCUS end target and NZE aspiration in the long term. Process design intent shall start with the input-output specifications, where main input specifications would be looking at source or CCUS fluid (e.g. gas field/flare stack etc.) which will determine the type of CO2 capture technology required. Target output usage (storage/ utilization) will affect the tail-end process design, since both require different process setup. Other considerations would also be: (1) location (onshore vs offshore) which will affect the facilities network and logistics, (2) contaminants such as SOx and NOx which will determine other treatment requirements and affect the final use of the separated CO2-rich stream (utilization, storage strategy), and (3) material selection for the mixed contaminants stream. Depending on the concentration of CO2 in the source, a series of treatment steps may be required to get the optimum recovery for further utilization and storage. The presence of other contaminants is also discussed, which may affect the overall CCUS processes. Method to either utilize the separated CO2 stream or injection to reservoir for storage is also explored. An integrated approach is required to ensure a successful CCUS process design from start to end. Challenges and lesson-learnt from a conceptual CCUS system are analyzed including technology maturation, presence of other contaminants and final use of CO2-based products/storage. The technical and commercial aspects associated with each technology are also addressed. Key design elements are proposed with aspiration of a successful CCUS implementation in reducing future carbon footprint and realizing NZE aspiration and decarbonization goal, requiring planning for end-to-end solutions.