At the forefront of net zero aims

If the world is to rapidly move closer towards a more sustainable, circular economy, and hit net zero by 2050, a range of pumps will be an essential feature of many carbon-cutting efforts across the industrial landscape. New solutions are required for challenging application-specific needs, such as to produce biofuels and plastics recycling, but particularly in the emerging field of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS). As this article outlines, high-performance multistage double casing pumps, fully compliant with API 610, will continue to be chosen in a range of applications that aim to remove carbon wherever possible from industrial processes.

Recent CCUS developments

The urgency of combatting the climate emergency has significantly pushed forward the evolution of capturing and storing CO₂ released from burning fossil fuels in the past decade. This development in CCUS technologies has occurred not only on the back of major decarbonisation initiatives, but also along with the emergence of new production methods across the hydrocarbon industry. These efforts received a major boost with the introduction of government legislation in different parts of the world. The most notable of these has been the US Inflation Reduction Act, signed by President Biden in August 2022, which made available billions of dollars to advance its climate and energy infrastructure and other policies. As well as providing various financing streams for jobs and a cleaner energy environment, the aim is to achieve a net zero economy by 2050 for the US. This piece of legislation has provided significant stimulus to the growing interest in CCUS solutions in various industrial sectors, not just in North America but across various parts of the world.

The largest potential for CO₂ capture is currently found in hydrocarbon facilities, with the vast majority of the capture capacity facilities stemming from industries such as gas processing, power generation, or synthetic fuels, and a small fraction currently coming from hydrogen production – in fact, hydraulically optimised centrifugal pumps are crucial for hydrogen production, such as to feed water into electrolysers to produce green hydrogen.

Once captured, CO₂ can be used on site, or it can be compressed and transported via pipeline, rail, road (trucks), or ships to be used in a range of applications. Otherwise, it can be transported to be stored deep underground, such as in saline aquifers, or in oil or gas reservoirs. There are several benefits associated with employing CCUS technology in the decarbonisation of various industrial sectors. One of the most notable is the fact that it can be employed in so-called ‘hard-to-abate’ industries and environments in which other decarbonisation methods are less successful. This can include cement, steel, and chemicals, for example. A further advantage is that CCUS can be retrofitted to existing, still operational, industrial and power plants. As well as used in hydrogen production, the captured CO₂ can also be turned into a working fluid for many hydrocarbon-dominant processes. Once CO2 is compressed beyond its critical point, the gas and the liquid phases become identical. This is carried out by multi-stage integral-geared centrifugal compressors, along with companders for supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) processes using the Brayton cycle.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s net zero 2050 outlook, there are currently only around 40 commercial CCUS facilities in operation. These 40 facilities are being deployed in ‘industrial processes, fuel transformation and power generation’, and they are currently capturing around 50 million tpy of CO₂. These figures reveal that there is clearly huge scope for major expansion in the number of CCUS facilities across the globe. Indeed, the IEA also reports that there should be approximately 50 new capture facilities up and running by 2030, which will capture a predicted 125 million tpy of CO₂. While this represents progress, it is still inadequate if the world is to hit its net zero targets.

There does, however, appear to be much better news on the horizon, with many more facilities planned. The IEA also reports that there are around 500 projects in the pipeline. And if a large proportion of these currently ‘in various stages of development across the CCUS value chain’ are realised (and get the requisite investments), they will bring with them numerous opportunities for the deployment of high-quality pumps.

This article was originally published in the August 2024 issue of Hydrocarbon Engineering magazine. To read the full article, sign in or register for a free subscription.

Written by John Chittenden, CPC Pumps International Inc., part of Atlas Copco Group.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/the-environment/03092024/at-the-forefront-of-net-zero-aims/