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Recent Results
Equations of State Relevance for Supercritical CO2 with Impurities
This research project addresses the highest priority research gap that was identified through the PRCI assessment of CO2 pipeline technology that was completed this year. At the request of several of our members, PRCI initiated a quick response JIP in June of 2010 to address this specific critical research need for CO2 transmission pipeline design and analysis. The objective of this project is to determine experimentally the decompression wave speed in predominantly CO2 mixtures with N2, O2, CO and H2 impurities, from a range of initial pressures and temperatures. Such impurities are typical of carbon capture streams from industrial sites that must be transported by pipeline for sequestration or enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects.
Decompression wave speed is an essential element for achieving effective fracture control design, which is required for all pipelines transporting hazardous substances. The final goal is to provide essential information to allow CO2 pipelines to be designed with appropriate material toughness to prevent long running ductile fractures, thus removing a potentially serious obstacle to their efficient design for high-consequence areas. Another technical objective is to compare the test results with various equations of state and determine which ones best represent the properties of both pure CO2 and CO2 with impurities, particularly in the dense or supercritical state.
Key Results
The initial round of testing planned under the JIP has been completed with excellent results. Follow-on testing continues under a PRCI project approved and funded this fall. The ongoing testing addresses a wider range of CO2 mixtures of interest to our member companies, representing the range of global environments for CO2 pipelines that are being encountered by operating companies.
This project is also funded by the Australian Pipeline Industry Association (APIA) and the European Pipeline Research Group (EPRG), and is the first tripartite research conducted by these three organizations together.