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Australian Energy Producers Journal Australian Energy Producers Journal Society
Journal of Australian Energy Producers
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Non peer reviewed)

Integrity considerations for dehydration of carbon dioxide

Ross Weiter A *
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A Advisian Pty Ltd, Level 14, 240 St Georges Terrace, Perth, WA 6000, Australia.

* Correspondence to: ross.weiter@advisian.com

The APPEA Journal 62 S200-S204 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ21040
Accepted: 18 March 2022   Published: 13 May 2022

© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.

Abstract

Carbon capture, sequestration, and utilisation is widely considered to be one of the key enablers to decarbonising the economy. Transportation of carbon dioxide (CO2) is a key focal area in any carbon capture and storage project. While dehydration of natural gas for transportation is well understood and regulated, the same cannot be said for CO2. This is due to its immaturity relative to natural gas and due to properties of CO2 being radically different to those of hydrocarbons. One of those physical properties is the ability of CO2 to saturate with water. Excessive water in CO2 transportation and injection systems can cause integrity and operability problems such as corrosion, blockages from hydrates and water ice, and slugging due to liquid water dropout. Contaminants present in the CO2 stream such as methanol and hydrogen can also have a significant impact on the phase envelope. Therefore, to mitigate these issues, dehydration specifications need to be selected based on phase envelopes and other important project parameters such as corrosion, ambient temperatures, and hydrate formation. For every individual project, a selection needs to be made to determine the applicable CO2 dehydration specification, considering both the normal and transient operating conditions. Based on the selected specification, the most suitable method for implementing dehydration should be selected, along with the optimum location of the dehydration equipment in the multi-stage pressure-boosting plant. This study explores these challenges and presents a methodology for overcoming them.

Keywords: carbon capture and sequestration, carbon dioxide, CCS, CCUS, CO2, dehydration, integrity, safety.

Ross Weiter is a Principal Consultant at Advisian, where he is also the Carbon Capture Utilisation, and Sequestration (CCUS) Lead for the Asia-Pacific Region. He has over 29 years of experience in all areas of the upstream oil and gas industry. This includes time spent in concept engineering, front-end design, detail design, operation support, and site work. His experience includes many CCUS studies, for Santos, Wesfarmers, Arctic LNG2, Woodside, ConocoPhillips, Chevron, Korea National Oil Company, BG, and others. These studies covered design, workshop facilitation, technology assessment, risk assessment, and costing. Ross spent most of his career working in Perth, with 3 years in Muscat working for Petroleum Development Oman. Ross holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical Engineering, Hons II) from Curtin University of Technology, Perth and is a Member of IChemE and Society of Petroleum Engineers. He recently completed a short course in Sustainability Management Leadership (University of Cambridge).


References

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| Crossref |

Smith C (2021) Process safety challenges of CO2 sequestration. The APPEA Journal 61, 567–570.
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