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Journal of the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA)
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Non peer reviewed)

Integrated system design for the Moomba CCS Project

Phillip Lemon A *
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A Santos Ltd, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

* Correspondence to: phillip.lemon@santos.com

The APPEA Journal 63 S409-S412 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22266
Accepted: 24 February 2023   Published: 11 May 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.

Abstract

The Moomba Gas Plant in northeast South Australia processes natural gas produced from the Cooper Basin. CO2 in the natural gas is separated and has historically been vented to atmosphere. The Moomba Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project aims to reduce these greenhouse gas emissions from the Moomba Gas Plant by 1.7 Mtpa CO2-e starting from 2024. The CO2 will be captured, processed and transported by pipeline to the depleted Strzelecki and Marabooka Gas Fields where it will be permanently stored. Designing a CCS system is similar to traditional hydrocarbon systems but there are important differences due to the nature of CO2. This paper discusses some of the key considerations in the design and integration of the capture, processing, transport and storage systems for the Moomba CCS Project. The composition of the CO2 stream, including minor impurities and water content, is a major factor that affects all systems. The phase behaviour of CO2 and the associated low temperatures are also important, particularly when injecting into low-pressure storage reservoirs.

Keywords: carbon capture and storage, CCS, CO2, composition, compressor, Cooper Basin, design, flow assurance, injection well, low-pressure, Moomba, pipeline.

Phillip Lemon is a Development Engineer working for Santos Ltd. He joined Santos in 2010 and has since worked in a variety of roles, mainly in reservoir and production engineering. In the Energy Solutions team he has been focused on opportunities to reduce Santos’ carbon emissions, initially CO2 enhanced oil recovery and then carbon capture and storage. Most recently he has worked on the Moomba CCS and Bayu-Undan CCS Projects. Phillip graduated from the University of Adelaide in 2009 with a BEng (Hons) in Petroleum and Mechanical Engineering. He is a member of SPE and EA.


References

Evans H, Minge B (2021) Santos Moomba to Cross-Border carbon capture and storage pipeline. In ‘The APGA Annual Convention and Exhibition, October 2021.’ (Australian Pipeline and Gas Association, Canberra). Available at https://az659834.vo.msecnd.net/eventsairaueprod/production-conferenceco-public/c757843dd00049caaa46099aae2c28b9

Harley N (2021) Moomba carbon capture and storage case study: material emissions reduction at Moomba plant. The APPEA Journal 61, 402–404.
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