Global warming and climate change concerns have triggered global efforts to reduce the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) is considered a crucial strategy for meeting CO2 emission reduction targets. In this paper, various aspects of CCS are reviewed and discussed including the state of the art technologies for CO2 capture, separation, transport, storage, leakage, monitoring, and life cycle analysis. The selection of specific CO2 capture technology heavily depends on the type of CO2 generating plant and fuel used. Among those CO2 separation processes, absorption is the most mature and commonly adopted due to its higher efficiency and lower cost. Pipeline is considered to be the most viable solution for large volume of CO2 transport. Among those geological formations for CO2 storage, enhanced oil recovery is mature and has been practiced for many years but its economical viability for anthropogenic sources needs to be demonstrated. There are growing interests in CO2 storage in saline aquifers due to their enormous potential storage capacity and several projects are in the pipeline for demonstration of its viability. There are multiple hurdles to CCS deployment including the absence of a clear business case for CCS investment and the absence of robust economic incentives to support the additional high capital and operating costs of the whole CCS process.

https://www.elsevier.com/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/96980/Current-status-carbon-capture.pdf

An overview of current status of carbon dioxide capture and storage technologies

http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/78793/1/Progress%20in%20chemical-looping%20combustion%20and%20ref....2012.pdf

Progress in chemical-looping combustion and reforming technologies

CO2 capture and separation technologies for end-of-pipe applications – A review

Chemical-looping combustion (CLC) for inherent CO2 separations—a review

This review provides a comprehensive assessment of recently improved carbon dioxide (CO2) separation and capture systems, used in power plants and other industrial processes. Different approaches for CO2 capture are pre-combustion, post-combustion capture, and oxy-combustion systems, which are reviewed, along with their advantages and disadvantages. New technologies and prospective “breakthrough technologies”, for instance: novel solvents, sorbents, and membranes for gas separation are examined. Other technologies including chemical looping technology (reaction between metal oxides and fuels, creating metal particles, carbon dioxide, and water vapor) and cryogenic separation processes (based on different phase change temperatures for various gases to separate them) are reviewed as well. Furthermore, the major CO2 separation technologies, such as absorption (using a liquid solvent to absorb the CO2), adsorption (using solid materials with surface affinity to CO2 molecules), and membranes (using a thin film to selectively permeate gases) are extensively discussed, though issues and technologies related to CO2 transport and storage are not considered in this paper.

Review of recent advances in carbon dioxide separation and capture

In this paper an alternative to the so-called "oxy-fuel" combustion for CO2 capture is evaluated. "Chemical looping combustion" (CLC), is closely related to oxy-fuel combustion as the chemically bound oxygen reacts in a stoichiometric ratio with the fuel. In the CLC process the overall combustion reaction takes place in two reaction steps in two separate reactors. In the reduction reactor, the fuel is oxidised by the oxygen carrier, i.e. the metal oxide MeO. The metal oxide is reduced to a metal oxide with a lower oxidation number, Me, in the reaction with the fuel. In this manner, pure oxygen is supplied to the reaction with the fuel without using a traditional air separation plant, like cryogenic distillation of air. The paper presents a thermodynamic cycle analysis, where CLC is applied in a Humid Air Turbine concept. Main parameters are identified, and these are varied to examine the influence on cycle efficiency. Results on cycle efficiency are presented and compared to other CO2 capture options. Further, an evaluation of the oxygen carrier, metals/oxides, is presented. An exergy analysis is carried out in order to understand where losses occur, and to explain the difference between CLC and conventional combustion. The oxidation reactor air inlet temperature and the oxidation reactor exhaust temperature have a significant impact on the overall efficiency. This can be attributed to the controlling effect of these parameters on the required airflow rate. An optimum efficiency of 55.9% has been found for a given set of input parameters. Crucial issues of oxygen carrier durability, chemical performance and mechanical properties have been idealized, and further research on the feasibility of CLC is needed. Whether or not the assumption 100% gas conversion holds, is a crucial issue and remains to be determined experimentally. Successful long-term operation of chemical looping systems of this particular type has not yet been demonstrated. The simulation points out a very promising potential of CLC as a power/heat generating method with inherent capture of CO2. Exergy analysis show reduced irreversibilities for CLC compared to conventional combustion. Simulations of this type will prove useful in designing CLC systems in the future when promising oxygen carriers have been investigated in more detail.

Inherent CO2 Capture Using Chemical Looping Combustion in a Natural Gas Fired Power Cycle

In this paper an alternative to the so-called “oxy-fuel” combustion for CO2 capture is evaluated. “Chemical looping combustion” (CLC), is closely related to oxy-fuel combustion as the chemically bound oxygen reacts in a stoichiometric ratio with the fuel. In the CLC process the overall combustion reaction takes place in two reaction steps in two separate reactors. In the reduction reactor, the fuel is oxidised by the oxygen carrier, i.e. the metal oxide MeO. The metal oxide is reduced to a metal oxide with a lower oxidation number, Me, in the reaction with the fuel. In this manner, pure oxygen is supplied to the reaction with the fuel without using a traditional air separation plant, like cryogenic distillation of air. The paper presents a thermodynamic cycle analysis, where CLC is applied in a Humid Air Turbine concept. Main parameters are identified, and these are varied to examine the influence on cycle efficiency. Results on cycle efficiency are presented and compared to other CO2 capture options. Further, an evaluation of the oxygen carrier, metals/oxides, is presented. An exergy analysis is carried out in order to understand where losses occur, and to explain the difference between CLC and conventional combustion. The oxidation reactor air inlet temperature and the oxidation reactor exhaust temperature have a significant impact on the overall efficiency. This can be attributed to the controlling effect of these parameters on the required airflow rate. An optimum efficiency of 55.9% has been found for a given set of input parameters. Crucial issues of oxygen carrier durability, chemical performance and mechanical properties have been idealized, and further research on the feasibility of CLC is needed. Whether or not the assumption 100% gas conversion holds, is a crucial issue and remains to be determined experimentally. Successful long-term operation of chemical looping systems of this particular type has not yet been demonstrated. The simulation points out a very promising potential of CLC as a power/heat generating method with inherent capture of CO2 . Exergy analysis show reduced irreversibilities for CLC compared to conventional combustion. Simulations of this type will prove useful in designing CLC systems in the future when promising oxygen carriers have been investigated in more detail.© 2002 ASME

In this paper an alternative to so-called ‘oxy-fuel’ combustion has been evaluated. Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) is an innovative concept of CO2 capture from combustion of fossil fuels in power plants. CLC is closely related to oxy-fuel combustion as the chemically bound oxygen reacts in a stoichiometric ratio with the fuel. In CLC, the overall combustion takes place in two steps. In a reduction reactor fuel is oxidised by the oxygen carrier i.e. the metal oxide MeO which is reduced to metal oxide with a lower oxidation number, Me. Me flows to an oxidation reactor where it is oxidised by oxygen in the air. In this way pure oxygen is supplied to fuel without using an energy intensive traditional air separation unit. This paper presents thermodynamic cycle analysis of a CLC-power plant. A steady-state model has been developed for the solid-gas reactions occurring in the reactor system. The model is applied to analyse the system under two configurations; a combined cycle and a conventional steam cycle. A turbine-cooling model has also been implemented to evaluate the turbine cooling penalty in the combined cycle configuration. Effects of exhaust recirculation for coking prevention and incomplete fuel conversion have also been investigated. Performance of the oxygen carrier has been idealised except for the degrees of reduction and oxidation. Energy needs for CO2 capture have properly been taken into account. The results show that an optimum efficiency of 49.7% can be achieved under given conditions with a CLC-combined cycle at zero emissions level. With turbine cooling, efficiency falls by 1.2% points under the same conditions. The CLC-steam cycle is capable of achieving 40.1% efficiency with zero emissions. The results show that CLC has high potential for power generation with inherent CO2 capture. This work will be useful in designing CLC systems after the reactor system has been analysed experimentally for long-term operations.Copyright © 2004 by ASME

Chemical Looping Combustion-Analysis of natural gas fired power cycles with inherent CO2 capture

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) is a new concept for fuel energy conversion with CO2 capture. In CLC, fuel combustion is split into seperate reduction and oxidation processes, in which a solid carrier is reduced and oxidized, respectively. The carrier is continuously recirculated between the two vessels, and hence direct contact between air and suel is avoided. As a result, a stoichiometric amount of oxygen is transferred to the fuel by a regenerable solid intermediate, and CLC is thus a varient of oxy-fuel combustion. In principle, pure CO2 can be obtained from the reduction exhaust by condensation of the produced water vapor. The termodynamic potential and feasibility of CLC has been studied by means of process simulatons and experimental studies of oxygen carriers. Process simulations have focused on parameter sensitivity studies of CLC implemented in 3 power cycles; CLC-Combined Cycle, CLC-Humid Air Turbine and CLC-Integrated Steam Generation. Simulations indicate that overall fuel conversion ratio, oxidation temperature and operating pressure are among the most imortant process parameters in CLC. A promising thermodynamic potentail of CLC has been found, with efficiencies comparable to, - or better than existing technologies for CO2 capture. The proposed oxygen carrier nickel oxide on nickel spinel (NiONiA1) has been studied in reduction with hydrogen, methane and methane/steam as well as oxidation with dry air. It has been found that at atmosphereic pressure and temperatures above 600° C, solid reduction with dry methane occurs with overall fuel conversion of 92%. Steam methane reforming is observed along with methane cracking as side reactions, yealding an overall selectivity of 90% with regard to solid reduction. If steam is added to the reactant fuel, coking can be avoided. A methodology for long term investigation of solid chemical activity in a batch reactor is proposed. The method is based on time variables for oxidaton. The results for NiONiA1 do not rule out CLC as a viable alternative for CO2 capture, but long term durability studies along with realistic testing of the carrier in a continuous rig is needed to firmly conclude. For comparative purposes a perovskite was synthesized and tested in CLC, under similar conditions as NiONiA1. The results indicate that in a moving bed CLC application, perovskites have inherent disadvantages as compared to simpler compounds, by virtue of low relative oxygen content.

Chemical Looping Combustion - Reduction of nickel oxide/nickel aluminate with hydrogen


 Thousands of offshore wells are planned to be permanently plugged and abandoned worldwide up to 2050. Fractures are known to occur and develop in the materials used as seals/plugs, creating channels that compromise P&A integrity. This risk is increased by the foreseeable use of oil and gas assets in CCS and hydrogen storage projects. Existing monitoring methods may fail to provide early warning of issues with plug integrity. There is presently no regulation in place on Norwegian Continental Shelf about long-term monitoring of permanently plugged and abandoned wells, however, this situation is likely to change in the future. Thus, cheap, and effective methods to monitor the integrity of long-term P&A of offshore wells are necessary.
 The existing technology for P&A is sufficiently mature to dramatically reduce the risk of a "catastrophic" failure in its deployment. Thus, if the integrity of permanent barriers is compromised, it is likely that this will happen through the establishment of micro-fractures where very small flowrates of reservoir fluids can escape or diffuse to the marine environment. If such early signs are detected, then a more thorough diagnose and mitigation campaign can be deployed in a timely manner. Tracer technology can provide this type of early warning. By including tracers in the P&A projects, either deploying a slug just before the installation of barriers, or embedded in the barrier material matrix, these substances will be detected in the waters around the plugged well head, if channels allow for the circulation of fluids between the bottom and top of the wells. Most (if not all) existing tracers are detectable in the ng/L (ppt) level, thus providing a warning system even if just diffusion occurs. The tracers qualified for use in oil & gas reservoirs are not exposed to the presence of materials used in plugs/barriers in P&A. Many of these materials (e.g., cement-based) exhibit surfaces with relatively high energies and activities. Thus, it is critical to evaluate tracer response for this type of new application.
 In the present document, we present an initial study to evaluate long-term stability and dynamic flooding properties of existing water-based tracers in the presence of Portland cement and CO2 originated ions. The stability experiments were performed at two different temperatures. The dynamic flooding properties were evaluated relatively to tritiated water in a reference barrier cell constructed with known defects. The cell used (referred to in the present document as plug) consisted of a well section with cemented casing (Portland), constructed on purpose to allow for fluid circulation in a "microannulus". Results show that further evaluation and development of the concept of using tracers as an early warning system for permanent P&A is necessary. However, of the 8 tested tracers, 4 exhibit an ideal or close to ideal flooding behavior in the microannulus system that open the doors to such an application. Results also suggest that tracer tests using conventional inter-well water tracers can be devised to assess the quality of both borehole and casing cementing in conventional well-completion operations.

Øyvind Brandvoll

Papers

Inherent CO2 Capture Using Chemical Looping Combustion in a Natural Gas Fired Power Cycle

Inherent CO2 Capture Using Chemical Looping Combustion in a Natural Gas Fired Power Cycle

Chemical Looping Combustion-Analysis of natural gas fired power cycles with inherent CO2 capture

Chemical Looping Combustion - Reduction of nickel oxide/nickel aluminate with hydrogen

Tracer-Based Monitoring of P&A in Offshore Fields