Kay Damen

Worldwide Selection of Early Opportunities for CO2-EOR and CO2-ECBM (1)

One of the technologies that have the potential to make deep reductions in CO 2 emissions is geological storage of CO 2 . Deep reductions in CO 2 emissions will most probably be needed to achieve stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. There are several options for geological storage that can be divided into two groups: storage without energy benefits (for example, in aquifers or in depleted gas and oil reservoirs) and with energy benefits. The latter group can be cost effective, even without CO 2 credits or taxes, because of revenues from oil or gas production. It is, therefore, likely that these options give an added value to each ton of CO 2 prevented from emission to the atmosphere, and have the potential to be the first projects to be implemented in the near future. As a matter a fact, due to its cost effectiveness, enhanced oil recovery with CO 2 (CO 2 -EOR) is already applied by the oil and gas industry, mostly in the United States and Canada. These low costs opportunities combine high purity (100%) CO 2 gas streams, which lower capture costs, with short transmission distance and potentially profitable CO 2 enhanced fossil fuel recovery schemes such as CO 2 -EOR and CO 2 -ECBM. Such low cost opportunities should provide options for early implementation of CO 2 capture and storage projects worldwide. The study has used a Geographical Information System to link high purity CO 2 point sources to oil and gas reservoirs within 100 km of the point source.

An integral comparison of hydrogen and electricity production systems with CO2 capture and storage by means of a chain analysis

Publisher Summary This chapter makes a transparent techno-economic comparison of electricity and hydrogen production options from coal and natural gas with CO2 capture and storage. Performance and cost data are normalized on currency, scale, and energy prices. It considers state-of-the-art technologies that can be realized commercially on the short term and promising advanced technologies that may become mature for market introduction on the longer term. Various identified options that show promising prospects in terms of energy efficiency and costs have been investigated further by means of a simple chain analysis, incorporating CO2 transport, CO2 storage and distribution of energy carriers to the end-user in the Dutch context. CO2 balances, energy carrier production costs and mitigation costs have been assessed and compared in a consistent matter. This chapter presents preliminary results and highlights gaps and weak spots in information.

Techno-economic prospects of membrane reactors in a future hydrogen-driven transportation sector

Publisher Summary The membrane reactor (MR) is modeled with Aspenplus and its economics are calculated on a component cost basis. The MR is a novel technology for the production of hydrogen from natural gas. It promises economic small-scale hydrogen production and has the potential of inexpensive CO2 separation. The MR is competitive with conventional technology provided that thin membranes (several micrometers) with high stability can be produced. The modeling results also indicate that by using a sweep gas, the MR can produce a reformer exit stream consisting mainly of CO2 and H2O (>90%moi) and thus promises a cheap method of CO2 separation. Regarding the trade-off between a hydrogen infrastructure based on centralized production and on-site production with an MR and a carbon dioxide infrastructure, it strongly depends on the scale of centralized hydrogen production whether CO2 separation with MRs should be considered. Mass production and thinner membranes make the MR more favorable.

Worldwide Selection of Early Opportunities for CO2-EOR and CO2-ECBM (2): Selection and analysis of promising cases

Publisher Summary CO 2 sequestration is a technology that can contribute to a significant reduction in CO 2 emissions. It involves capture of the emitted CO 2 from the source process followed by dehydration/compression, transportation of the CO 2 by pipeline to the storage site and injection and storage of the CO 2 in the geological reservoir. One of the key barriers to the introduction of CO 2 capture and storage technology has been identified as the high cost of capture. However, many industrial processes generate exhaust gas streams with high purity (>90%) CO 2 , which means that the capture costs will be significantly lower. Once CO 2 is captured, there is a cost associated with the transport of CO 2 from the source to the storage site. For most sequestration schemes involving CO 2 capture, the cost of CO 2 transport is small compared to the capture costs. Transportation costs can remain low if storage could be close to CO 2 sources, thereby minimizing pipeline distances. Finally, there is a cost associated with the injection of CO 2 into the geological storage reservoir. However, in certain CO 2 sequestration cases, there are some opportunities for storage at small (or even negative) net cost. These opportunities exist where production of oil or gas is enhanced by the injection of CO 2 into the reservoir, thereby generating revenues.

Feasibility study of CO 2 enhanced coalbed methane production in the Netherlands

Publisher Summary This chapter examines the feasibility to develop an ECBM-CO2 pilot project, including potential upscaling in the south of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands—a former mining area. A phased process is required to develop a commercial ECBM project. In this study, three phases were considered: a test site, a scaled-up site, and a network consisting of various scaled-up sites. The results of the study indicated that despite the variation in parameters due to uncertainties or choices currently Enhanced Coalbed Methane (ECBM)-CO2 is not competitive with natural gas, even when scaling up the project. This is mainly because of the high well density and large investment costs. It can, therefore, be concluded tentatively that ECBM-CO2 in Zuid-Limburg needs an incentive to make it economically feasible; by way of a bonus for avoiding CO2 emissions, a tax on CO2 emissions or carbon credits in a future carbon emission trading system. Another possibility could be given by the production of “climate-neutral” electricity from the produced Coalbed Methane (CBM). One of the options for underground sequestration of CO2 that has been subject of several studies is injection in subsurface coal seams and simultaneous enhanced production of coalbed methane (ECBM-CO2).