Carbon Dioxide Release and Dispersion from Carbon Dioxide Transportation Systems— A Systematic and Reliable Assessment for Safer System Design and Operations

Abstract Safety is a vital element in designing and operating carbon dioxide (CO2) transportation systems. Potential controlled and uncontrolled release-dispersions of CO2 from a CO2 transportation system pose a high concern in public safety and environmental impacts, as well as potential (further) damage to the system during the release processes that may lead to high repair costs. Therefore, the impacts of these potential release-dispersion scenarios must be thoroughly assessed and addressed. Reliable and confident assessment is critical, relying heavily on a comprehensive and rigorous analysis of potential release-dispersion scenarios and their impacts on both the system itself and the environment, using validated CO2 flow and release-dispersion models. In this paper, an approach to systematically analyzing and determining potential release-dispersion scenarios for a CO2 transportation system is discussed. The effects of CO2 release on CO2 transient flow conditions and behaviors in a transportation flow system are investigated using a commercial dynamic multiphase flow simulator to assess their impact on the system integrity. The effects of the dispersion scenarios are investigated using a flare systems design and analysis software model, particularly the associated noise effect and dispersion behaviors. These models are validated against field data obtained from open literature; the data and results are presented and discussed. Modelling results and analysis of the potential risks associated with these CO2 release-dispersion scenarios are discussed and summarized.