Integration of Pipeline Operations Sourced with CO2 Captured at a Coal-fired Power Plant and Injected for Geologic Storage: SECARB Phase III CCS Demonstration

摘要

This paper presents a case study of the design and operation of a fit-for-purpose pipeline sourced with "anthropogenic" carbon dioxide (CO2) associated with a large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) Research & Demonstration Program located in Alabama, USA. A 10.2 centimeter diameter pipeline stretches approximately 19 kilometers from the outlet of the CO2 capture facility, located at Alabama Power Company's James M. Barry 2,657-megawatt coal-fired electric generating plant, to the point of injection into a saline reservoir within Citronelle Dome. The CO2 pipeline has a 6.5 meter wide easement that primarily parallels an existing high-voltage electric transmission line in undulating terrain with upland timber, stream crossings, and approximately 61,000 square meters of various wetland types. In addition to wetlands, the route transects protected habitat of the Gopher Tortoise. Construction methods included horizontal drilling under utilities, wetlands, and tortoise habitat and 'open cutting' trenching where vegetation is removed and silt/storm-water management structures are employed to limit impacts to water quality and ecosystems. A total of 18 horizontal directional borings, approximately 8 kilometers, were used to avoid sensitive ecosystems, roads, and utilities. The project represents one of the first and the largest fully-integrated pulverized coal-fired CCS demonstration projects in the USA and provides a test bed of the operational reliability and risk management for future pipelines sourced with utility CO2 capture and compression operations sole-sourced to injection operations. An update on status of the project is presented, covering the permitting of the pipeline, risk analysis, design, construction, commissioning, and integration with compression at the capture plant and underground injection at the storage site.