Carbon Capture and Storage for Enhanced Oil Recovery: Integration and Optimization of a Post-Combustion CO 2 -Capture Facility at a Power Plant in Abu Dhabi

fossil-fueled power plants remain the backbone of power generation (IEA 2013b). To satisfy this demand, numerous new-builts are planned all around the world. Keeping the temperature-increase goal of 2°C for global warming in mind, this development calls for mature carbon-capture techniques that reduce the climate impact of fossil-fueled power stations. Among the most-advanced and -engineered solutions for carbon dioxide (CO2) capture are post-combustion absorption/desorption processes, usually with aqueous amine solutions as solvents (Blauwhoff et al. 1984; Kohl and Nielsen 1997; Rinker et al. 2000; da Silva and Svendsen 2004). The Technology Owner, as a modification, has developed the PostCapTM (post-combustion carbon-capture) process by use of an amino acid salt (AAS) dissolved in water as solvent. AASs are described by various authors as a promising alternative to conventional amines (e.g., Rochelle et al. 2001; van Holst et al. 2006; Abu Zhara 2009; Feron and Puxty 2011; Majchrowicz 2014). The advantages are that AASs are salts and are therefore nonvolatile, which eliminates the threat of inhalation and solvent loss through gas phase. Moreover, many AASs are naturally occurring substances that are nontoxic, nonexplosive, odorless, and biodegradable. This leads to exceptional benefits for the operability of AAS-based CO2-capture units. Capturing CO2 for climate-related reasons, however, is only one side of the story. The use of CO2 as a valuable product is one step forward. The yield from oil fields can be increased considerably by enhanced oil recovery (EOR), a tertiary method of injecting CO2 underground with high pressure and thus extracting oil. The oil/ CO2 mixture reaching ground level can be flashed off and separated by well-established technologies; the CO2 will be reinjected and will remain underground after a certain number of turnovers. Studies name a potential worldwide demand of 260 to 310 gigatons (Gt) of CO2 for EOR (Van Leeuwen 2011), which could even be extended up to 460 Gt by application to smaller oil fields (Godec 2011). The CO2 will be, finally, stored underground. The resulting oil yield is given in the studies to be approximately 880 to 1,050 billion bbl of oil (Van Leeuwen 2011) or even more than 1,500 billion bbl (Godec 2011). Near-term projections forecast an annual use of 124 megatons (Mt) of CO2 in the US only by 2020 (Wallace and Kuuskraa 2014). Aiming both at climate and economic benefits, Masdar has initiated the Abu Dhabi Carbon-Capture, -Usage, and -Storage Studies, with the objective to develop a carbon-capture network in Abu Dhabi capable of providing large reductions of CO2 emissions while providing CO2 for EOR purposes. Phase 1 of the project, the purification and transport of approximately 800,000 tons of CO2 annually emitted from a steelmaking process, has started construction and is planned to go into operation in 2016. As a further component for Masdar’s initiative, the Technology Owner and Masdar have completed a front-end engineering and design study Copyright © 2015 Society of Petroleum Engineers