Developing Measurement Facilities for Carbon Capture and Storage

Abstract

This paper describes two experimental facilities developed to carry out research and development of measurement instruments used in the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) industry. The gaseous and static facilities are capable of testing measurement devices such as flowmeters, densitometers and sampling systems. Testing these instruments in the compositions and conditions likely to be experienced in the industry is essential to ensure that they are capable of achieving the required levels of uncertainty specified by the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). The paper will describe the design of these facilities and give a summary of initial tests which have been carried out.

Review of flowmeters for carbon dioxide transport in CCS applications

“…The existing NEL wet gas facility was developed for gaseous CO 2 flow measurement, and orifice plates, Coriolis meter and ultrasonic flowmeters were tested. They concluded that at some of existing metering technologies could be within the CCS uncertainty requirements …”

“…It seems clear that there is no current single metering system which can, on its own, fulfil all of the requirements for metering CO 2 in CCS. It is apparent that some technologies, such as orifice plate meters, which are well proven in other applications (generally the least complex and best understood types of meters) are unsuitable for CCS due to uncertainties around EoS . This is further complicated by, in some instances, significant changes in the physical condition of the fluid caused by the measurement device itself.…”

“…They concluded that at some of existing metering technologies could be within the CCS uncertainty requirements. 68 The uncertainty of a Coriolis flowmeter has been reported as 0.11% by mass using a rig based on gravimetric calibration at Heriot-Watt University and flowing pure CO 2 in the liquid phase. 22,69 The performance of the Coriolis flowmeter was also investigated using the same flow rig and in the presence of mixtures of CO 2 and impurities representing the captured streams from pre-combustion, post-combustion and oxyfuel technologies.…”

“…It is apparent that some technologies, such as orifice plate meters, which are well proven in other applications (generally the least complex and best understood types of meters) are unsuitable for CCS due to uncertainties around EoS. 68 This is further complicated by, in some instances, significant changes in the physical condition of the fluid caused by the measurement device itself. When considering the added complexity of the presence of contaminants, the simpler metering systems, such as turbine meters, would not work, and could not be modified to work in the CCS environment.…”

Flow measurement of CO 2 in a binary gaseous mixture using an averaging Pitot Tube and Coriolis mass flowmeters

“…This generally involves the transportation of CO2 gas from the capture sites to storage locations such as saline formations and depleted oil and gas reservoirs [1]. CCU differs from CCS in the final destination of the captured CO2 in which it is instead converted into commercial products rather than transferred to a suitable site for long-term storage [2].…”