Results

Reports Conferences / Journal Publications Other

Reports

D1.2 Solvent Management Strategy

TNO has selected three solvent management strategies for investigation to be tested in combination with the HS-3 solvent demonstration campaign within WP2 at Irving Refinery in Ireland. These are adsorption of impurities with activated carbon, dissolved oxygen removal using membranes and thermal reclaiming. The first two will be integrated in the mobile CO₂ capture plant used in the campaign, while the last one will be tested in the laboratories at TNO.

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D2.2. Tiller plant modification and validation of CCLU

This report includes the design and description of the bench- scale (10-15 kg/hr) CO₂ compression and liquefaction unit (CCLU) at the SINTEF's Tiller pilot plant.

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D2.3 HS-3 campaign at the Irving Oil Whitegate refinery

CO₂ capture using HS-3 solvent (aqueous mixture of 40wt% of 1-(2-Hydroxyethyl)pyrrolidine, 1-(2HE)PRLD and 15wt% of 3-amino-1-propanol, 3A1P) has been successfully demonstrated at Irving Oil Whitegate Refinery in Ireland with real flue gas, reaching TRL 6. TNO’s miniplant, an ATEX-compliant small-scale pilot plant, has been employed to capture CO₂ from flue gases of four different sources of the Irving Oil Whitegate Refinery. The flue gases have varying content of CO₂, O2 and other impurities in order to degrade and stress-test as much as possible the stability of the solvent. In order to study the multi-absorber concept for capturing CO₂ from different stacks proposed in REALISE, the same solvent was used during all the demonstration campaigns.

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D2.4. HS-3 Campaign at Tiller plant (awaiting approval)

This deliverable shows the results from a demonstration campaign which has been performed at the SINTEF CO₂Lab pilot plant, in Trondheim, Norway.

The objective of the campaign has been to demonstrate the benefits of the solvent HS-3 – a blend of two amines that has been optimised earlier during the project. A 12-week long campaign was conducted from 22nd of August to the 9th of December 2022. 91% of this period the plant was up and running, giving a total of 1802 hours' time on stream, implying that the solvent was robust and easy to run.

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D2.5 Quantification of emissions and CO₂ quality (awaiting approval)

This report presents work related to REALISE project Task 2.3 and Task 2.4. It consists of two main parts:

Quantification of potential emissions to the atmosphere of HS-3 solvent compounds and resulting degradation products from the CO₂ capture plant.
Qualititave analysis of captured CO₂ stream at different locations (leading to the liquefaction unit, along the liquefaction unit)

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D 3.2 Integration of CO₂ capture plant in refineries (awaiting approval)

This report aims at illustrating the procedure followed for the design and optimization of a CO₂ capture plant for the treatment of the fluegas generated at Irving Oil Whitegatel Refinery (Cork, Ireland) and possible energy and gas treatment integrations with two power plants located at short distance from the refinery site, namely the ESB Aghada NGCC and the BGE Whitegate power stations.

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D3.3 Techno Economical Assessment (TEA) of CO₂ capture from Irving Oil Whitegate Refinery (awaiting approval)

The Techno-Economical Assessment (TEA) as part of WP3. is performed based on the work completed in D 3.2 where four (4) scenarios for CO₂ capture from the Irving Oil Whitegate refinery were defined for benchmark solvent MEA and the newly developed amine solvent HS3. The yearly amount of CO₂ captured in the scenarios range from 0.275 to 0.25 million MT per year.

The main and most important conclusion from this assessment is that the benchmark MEA solvent is more economic than the HS3 solvent despite the ca. 20% lower specific energy consumption for the CO₂ capture process for this new solvent.

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D3.5 Assessment of injection profile and infrastructure requirements to control & monitor of transportation pipelines and intermediate storage vessels

This study develops on a previous confidential report that presents an outline of the systems required to transport and store the captured CO₂, either to indigenous storage – the depleted Kinsale Head gas field – or by ship transport to the Northern Lights storage system in Norway. Systems are designed to meet the captured rates mentioned above. In particular this report includes an assessment of injection profile and infrastructure requirements to control & monitor transportation pipelines and intermediate storage vessels.

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D3.6 Assessment of options to provide flexibility in the design and operation of the transport and storage network

This report presents an assessment of the flexibility of the systems in accommodating variations in CO₂ supply, or in growth of the captured volumes to be stored.

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D3.7 High-level schematics (process flow diagrams) from Emitter to Storage

The estimated volume of CO₂ that could be captured from the cluster of three emitters in the case study ranges from 1.61 million tonnes to 2.77 Million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) under the low and high scenario respectively. The base case anticipates 2.23 Mtpa of CO₂ can be captured annually over a period of 25 years. The base case assumes the two power plants are operated at 55% load factor while Irving Oil Whitegate refinery is operated at 96% load factor and all plant are fitted with post combustion carbon capture rate of 90%. Further studies by REALISE are examining higher capture rate, possibly up to 99%. This report presents high-level schematics from emitter to storage.

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D3.8 Open access CO₂ capture tool for refineries- the OCTOPUS tool (manual) (awaiting approval)

The OCTOPUS tool (Online Calculator To Optimise CO₂ capture Processes for mUltiple Stacks) is a web based open access application (https://octopus.sensorlab.tno.nl/), designed for refineries, chemical clusters or other companies to perform a high-level evaluation of the feasibility of post-combustion CO₂ capture for their processes. The tool is a result of work performed in the Horizon 2020 project REALISE CCUS (https://realiseccus.eu/). In this project, TNO and NTNU have collaborated closely to develop this tool. This report serves as a manual for users on how to use and interpret the results of the tool, including a description of the workings of the tool and the main assumptions used in the development of the tool.

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D3.9 Synthesis report on full CCUS chain assessment for the CORK cluster (awaiting approval)

This synthesis report presents, at a high level, the results and conclusions of a full chain assessment of CCUS at a cluster refinery in Cork Ireland including two power generation plants BGE Whitegate Powerplant, the ESB Aghada Powerplant and Irving Oil Whitegate Refinery. The overarching objective was to undertake a real-world assessment of the potential for CCUS at this cluster and the implications for capturing, transporting utilising, and storing CO₂ from the oil refinery.

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D4.1 Critical review of EPE initiatives

This deliverable comprises a critical review of selected Education and Public Engagement (EPE) programmes from around the world. Information on selected case studies was gathered through a literature view combined with interviews of key informants. The methods used for EPE in each of the cases was identified, key challenges faced by such programmes identified, and best practices documented.

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D4.2 Social Acceptability Framework (awaiting approval)

This deliverable builds upon work undertaken from D4.1. Critical review of EPE initiatives as well as other research projects to develop and trial a framework for developing an Education and Public Engagement programme for carbon capture and storage in the context of the Cork case study area. A methodological approach is detailed for the creation of EPE programmes informed by just transition literature, illustrating a variety of EPE activities that are typically employed as part of consultative, collaborative and co-creative public engagement processes. Examples of good EPE practice of Irish organisations are explored. Informed by this review a framework for EPE was developed for the Cork case study area – including the creation and curation of content meeting the needs of the target audience. Key elements of this framework were trialled in local communities to evaluate its effectiveness, identify areas of potential improvement and ascertain its transferability. Finally, to aid in the measurement of such a programme’s success, key performance indicators (KPIs) are presented for each of the three dimensions of justice – distributive, procedural, and recognition justice.

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D4.3 Analysis of socio-political considerations of CCS

As part of the REALISE project, this report reviews: • the management of socio-political risks in carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects • policy and regulatory frameworks that enable or incentivise investment in CCS • financing options for CCS projects • CO₂ capture technologies specifically relevant to refineries • barriers and policy considerations relevant to the transport and storage of CO₂. The report also develops an indicator of the readiness of refineries for the application of CCS and applies it across European refineries.

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D4.6 Synthesis Report on Societal Readiness (awaiting approval)

The key objective of this work package has been to develop an in-depth understanding of the societal, socio-political, and commercial contexts of CCS deployment. This report brings together the developed knowledge and outcomes from work carried out for Work Package 4 into a synthesis, drawing broad-based conclusions as to the societal readiness of the REALISE approach.

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D6.3. Synthesis report on full CCUS chain for business case in China

This report presents the REALISE CCUS business case for refinery work performed in Task 6.1. It illustrates the procedure followed for the design, optimization, and techno-economic analysis of a CO₂ capture plant for the treatment of the flue gas generated at Jinzhou Refinery near Liaohe Oilfields, located in Liaoning Province, Northeast China.

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D6.4. Synthesis report on full CCUS chain for SK refinery in South Korea (business case in MI country-2)

This study presents a techno-economic assessment of a post-combustion capture CO₂ unit at SK refinery considering two solvents, namely MEA and HS-3. The study considers three flue gas stacks at the refinery site located in different parts of the refinery and investigates possible strategies to integrate the CO₂ capture plants of these stacks. A high-level cost estimation is performed to choose the best integration pathway to be used for the full techno-economic study. The chosen integration option is the solvent integration pathway, which is then evaluated in further detail. For MEA and HS-3, simulation data was retrieved from the OCTOPUS database (a tool developed within REALISE, having CO2SIM as the simulation tool). The data from the reference simulations were used for determining the mass and energy balances for CO₂ capture plants, from which the relevant equipment is sized. For solvent integration configuration, any additional equipment required for transportation of solvents between stacks are also sized and included in the techno-economic assessment. The captured CO₂ is compressed to its supercritical state and transported to the geological storage site. The costs of CO₂ transport is also included in this assessment.

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Conferences / Journal Publications

An approach for VLE model development, validation, and implementation in Aspen Plus for amine blends in CO₂ capture: the HS3 solvent case study

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) using chemical absorption is a viable method to significantly cut CO₂ emissions in the industrial and energy sectors. However, further development of improved absorbents is necessary to reduce the costs and environmental impact of current CCS technologies. To design the process and quantify energy consumption and costs through process simulation, it is necessary to implement an accurate and robust thermodynamic model. This article describes in details how to develop, regress, and validate a VLE model using ELECNRTL model in Aspen Plus V11 for the novel HS3 solvent, a blend of 3-amino-1-propanol and 1-(2-hydroxyethyl) pyrrolidine, which is currently being characterized in Realise (H2020-funded project). The VLE model is validated over a wide range of temperatures and loadings. Deviations on CO₂ partial pressures and heat of absorption are lower than 15% and 8%, respectively. The proposed procedure to regress ELECNRTL parameters can be used as a general guideline for implementing VLE models in Aspen Plus for generic amine blends or electrolyte solutions.

Click to access in ScienceDirect

Chemical Stability and Characterization of Degradation Products of Blends of 1-(2-Hydroxyethyl)pyrrolidine and 3-Amino-1-propanol

This work focuses on the chemical stability of 3A1P and 1-(2HE)PRLD blends and reports data on the solvent system under various conditions. Batch experiments were performed under conditions relevant to thermal degradation with CO₂ and oxidative degradation. After that, the system was tested in a SDR where the solvent was cycled between the absorber and the desorber. Operating conditions were varied to investigate the robustness of the solvent to higher reboiler temperature and sensibility toward nitrosation.

Click to access in ACS Publications

Densities, Viscosities of Pure 1-(2-Hydroxyethyl) Pyrrolidine, 3-Amino-1-Propanol, Water, and Their Mixtures at 293.15 to 363.15 K and Atmospheric Pressure

Densities and viscosities of pure 1-(2-hydroxyethyl) pyrrolidine, 3-amino-1-propanol, water, and their blends’ data are reported from 293.15 to 363.15 K and at ambient pressure. Densities of pure water show higher values than that of 3-amino-1-propanol and 1-(2-hydroxyethyl) pyrrolidine, whereas pure 3A1P is more viscous than 1-(2-hydroxyethyl) pyrrolidine and water. The excess molar volumes and viscosity deviations from the data are correlated to the Redlich–Kister equation. The shape and value for the excess molar volumes and viscosity deviations could explain the intermolecular interaction between the molecules.

Click to access in ACS Publications

PCCC-7 Novel Amines Blend for CO₂ Capture: HS3 Model Validation on Pilot-Scale Plant

Presentation by Filippo Bisotti (SINTEF), Matteo Gilardi (POLIMI), Hanna K. Knuutila (NTNU), Andrew Tobiesen (SINTEF), Davide Bonalumi (POLIMI)

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PCCC-6 Assessment of CO2 capture from multiple point source with a single regeneration column for efficient operation in refineries

Presentation by Andressa Nakao, Juliana Monteiro, Jasper Ros and Hanna Knuutila // Click here to access the PCCC-6 summary //

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GHGT-16 Carbon Capture Demonstration at Irving Oil Whitegate Refinery

In this work, TNO’s miniplant, an ATEX-compliant small-scale pilot plant, has been employed to capture CO₂ using the novel HS-3 (aqueous mixture of 40wt% of 1-(2- Hydroxyethyl)pyrrolidine, 1-(2HE)PRLD, and 15wt% of 3-amino-1-propanol, 3A1P) solvent from both synthetic and real flue gas from Irving Oil Whitegate refinery. Results regarding the overall performance of HS-3 solvent, including ease-of-operation, capture capacity, degradation and emissions are presented, indicating that the solvent is easy to use and operate with, without precipitation issues. However, it seems to have slow mass transfer, and high volatile emissions due to one of its containing amines.

Click to access in SSRN

GHGT-16 Compression and liquefaction unit for measuring impurities in the CO₂

A new CO₂ Compression and Liquefaction Unit (CCLU) for measuring impurities in the CO₂ product has been built, commissioned, and connected to the CO₂ capture pilot plant at SINTEF. The unit will be used to measure impurities in the CO₂ after compression and drying at conditions relevant to CO₂ shipping or transport. The CCLU has been designed with components like an industrial-sized unit, with three compressor stages including cooling and condensate knock-out drums. After being compressed to 35 - 40 bar, the CO₂ gas is dried and then cooled down and liquefied at -5 to -10 °C by an external cooler. The liquefied CO₂ is then expanded to 16 bars through an expansion valve and stored at -24.4 °C in a storage tank.

Liquid samples are taken from the knock-out drums whilst gas samples are extracted upstream of the external cooler. It is also possible to take a sample of the gas out of the storage tank. In a short test campaign with 30 wt% MEA, the CCLU has shown to operate well and have a fast response to steady-state conditions.

Click to access in SSRN

GHGT-16 Engaging effectively with public(s) in the realization of CCS projects

This paper examines what constitutes effective means of engaging with the public on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and Marine Renewable Energy (MRE). It draws from critical reviews of education and public engagement (EPE) programs undertaken in the context of two research projects one focused on CCS and the second concerned with MRE.

Click to acces in SSRN

GHGT-16 Identification of degradation compounds in a blend of 1-(2- hydroxyethyl)pyrrolidine and 3- amino-1-propanol

Aqueous amine solvents used for chemical absorption of CO2 will form unwanted compounds, often called degradation compounds, in the capture plant. The degradation compounds have different functional groups and there are few general methods for analyzing these components, meaning that new analytical methods need to be developed for each system. In this work, identification of degradation compounds in a blend of 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)pyrrolidine (1-(2HE)PRLD and 3-amino-1-propanol (3A1P) has been done. This include both general and solvent specific degradation compounds, where the limitation for the solvent specific degradation compounds often are if these compounds are commercially available. The solvent specific degradation compounds were predicted by adapting the knowledge regarding other amine system such as monoethanolamide (MEA) to the molecular structure of e.g. 3A1P. This gave a comprehensive analytical program which included 42 compounds, both general and solvent specific degradation compounds. The pathways for several of the solvent specific degradation compounds (HPF, OZN, AP-urea, APAP, tHHPP, methyl-AP, HPAla, HPGly, HPAla & pyrrolidine) were also suggested. The degradation compounds contribute to closing the nitrogen balance over the solvent samples when the analytical uncertainties are taken into account, this indicate that still unknown compounds could be present in small amounts.

Click to access in SSRN

GHGT-16 Optimum solvent concentration to lower energy demands for CO2 capture in refinery cases

An open-access novel low-energy solvent HS-3 has been proposed and verified in the lab scale for post-combustion CO2 capture. The HS-3 solvent consists of a tertiary amine with a strong bicarbonate former and a primary amine with high reactivity. Blends of these two solvents have been reported to be promising solvent candidate. In this work empirical density, viscosity, and thermal properties correlations together with the rigorous thermodynamic model were used to evaluate the energetic performance of individual solvent components and their blends. A simplified method mimicking the absorber and stripper conditions was used to evaluate performance of the solvents. Blends of these two amines at five different ratios were evaluated and the results show better energy performance than MEA 30 mass%. Based on the evaluation done, the blend of 40 mass% of Amine 1 and 15 mass% Amine gives the lowest energy requirement (2.5 MJ/kg CO2). In addition, the viscosity increases with solvent concentration but the changes were considered not to be so significant.

Click to access in SSRN

GHGT-16 Process design for the treatment of the Irving Oil refinery flue gas: heat recovery, energy analysis and CO2 capture

The present study deals with the design of a dedicated CO2 plant to capture 90% of the CO2 present in Irving Oil refinery flue gas. Special focus is put on design and optimization of a heat recovery exchangers network, with the aim of minimizing the steam consumption. Results point out that the thermal duty of the plant can be reduced by over 90% by means of thermal coupling between refinery stacks and the utility for CO2 capture solvent regeneration. Two different heat recovery schemes are proposed and compared through a preliminary cost estimate. Results show that the configuration maximizing the amount of heat recovered from hot refinery flue gas stacks is associated with lower total costs considering a payback period of ten years for the recovery of the initial investment.

Click to access in SSRN

GHGT-16 The CO₂ Capture tool for refineries: a new approach to analyze CO2 capture in a multiple stack cluster

TNO and NTNU are developing a CO₂ capture tool for refineries. Based on input parameters of a different stacks (e.g. flue gas flow rate, CO₂ concentration, temperature), the model can calculate the most effective CO₂ capture solution for the whole cluster based on constraints and requirements of the site.

An advantage of the tool is that it is a fast-running model, meaning that no process simulations are done in the tool itself. To achieve this, a database was built that contains a large number of simulation results from a standard CO₂ capture plant modelled in CO2SIM software.

In the present work, the developed tool is used to evaluate cases containing up to five CO₂ point sources with different CO₂ contents (3 – 20% vol wet basis) and gas flow rates (varying from 50000 m3/h to 500000 m3/h). The CO₂ capture costs, the costs connected to the operation and size of the units will be presented. Based on the obtained results, recommendations will be given for each case studied, and the feasibility discussed, also considering the ease of the operation and the required area.

Click to access in SSRN

GHGT-15 Demonstrating a Refinery-Adapted Cluster-Integrated Strategy to Enable Full-Chain CCUS Implementation – REALISE

The new H2020 project REALISE, started in May 2020, would demonstrate at pilot scale a CO2 capture technology based on an advanced low-energy solvent, quantify emissions, solvent degradation, and quality of the liquified CO2 when impurities from flue gases from an operating refinery are introduced to the pilot. Several innovative concepts will be demonstrated in the project (some directly at Irving Oil refinery in Cork, Ireland) allowing realization of the target objectives set in the project resulting in at least 30% reduction in the cost of CO2 capture compared to the reference case based on 30% monoethanolamine (MEA).

Techno-economic analysis will be done for integration of a multi-absorber concept for at least 3 refineries. The results will be implemented in an open-access simulation tool to evaluate the cost of CO2 capture and to decide carbon capture strategy at other refineries.

Assessment of transport, utilization and storage options will be performed for the studied cases and societal impact and CCS readiness index estimated for cases in Europe, China and S. Korea.

Click to access in SSRN

Other

Video: OCTOPUS Tool demonstration

In this video, Research Scientist Jasper Ros from TNO demonstrates the OCTOPUS tool (Online Calculator To Optimise CO₂ capture Processes for mUltiple Stacks): an open access tool to help industry to perform high-level evaluations on the feasibility of post-combustion CO₂ capture for their processes.

The tool was developed by TNO and NTNU and can evaluate cases where a single emission source is present, but can additionally evaluate the possibility to integrate multiple emission sources into a integrated capture system, relevant for instance for refineries or chemical clusters

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Video: Optimising carbon capture for refineries

Researcher Eirini Skylogianni from TNO takes you on a tour of TNO's CO₂ Capture Miniplant in this new video from the REALISE CCUS project.

The Miniplant is used to demonstrate and study CO₂ capture at pilot scale using a novel solvent.

Conducting the test campaign on-site with real flue gas provides valuable data for optimising and managing the selected solvent, preparing it for large-scale use by refineries and other industrial facilities.

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Webinar 1: REALISE: Enabling full-chain CCUS for refineries through clusters-based strategies

This webinar introduced the REALISE CCUS project, an international partnership of industry and scientists working to support the delivery of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technology for the refinery sector.

Click here to find out more and view the recording

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Webinar 2: Deep decarbonisation for refineries starts in Ireland: introducing the REALISE pilot campaigns

This webinar shared the cutting-edge research on CO₂ capture solvent stability and solvent management being carried out in a real-life refinery setting in order to support industry’s decarbonisation ambitions. The event introduced the scientists engaged in solvent testing campaigns at Irving Oil Whitegate Refinery in Ireland and SINTEF’s CO₂ laboratories at Tiller in Norway. It included a short film and a panel Q&A.

Click here to find out more, watch the video and view the recording

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Webinar 3: The Cork Cluster study

This webinar provided an overview of findings from a study of the Cork industrial cluster in Ireland. Participants heard details of the industries involved: ESB Aghada and BGE Whitegate generation stations and Irving Oil Whitegate Refinery. The presenatations included details of the role of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and how this might be configured, from the point of CO₂ capture to transport and long-term geological storage. Cost-benefit analysis was also considered and there was a discussion of different approaches to public engagement and best practices that influence the social acceptability of CCS projects.

Click here to find out more and view the recording

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Horizon Results Booster programme, promoting research from the REALISE CCUS, C4U and CLEANKER projects.

Click here to view the short video produced with support from the Horizon Results Booster //

Click here to view the webinar "Reducing Industrial Carbon Emissions" //

Click below to download the briefing that was developed by the CLEANKER, C4U and REALISE CCUS projects, all of which are funded under the European Union’s flagship Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

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