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Abstract

As carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered as one of the options for reducing atmospheric emissions of CO₂ from human activities and the environment, there are needs to examine the role that a pipeline infrastructure for CCS could play in reducing the CO₂ emissions, and the possible development of pathways for a CCS pipeline connecting the source with appropriate sink. In the cost estimation of the CO₂ transport, the pipeline diameter plays an important role in optimizing the CO₂ to enable the storage of several millions of tonnes of CO₂ per year. This paper examines the modelling of a straight pipe segment carrying pure CO₂ with impurities and evaluate the effects of different pipe diameter on flow capacity using a pipeline hydraulic simulator. PIPESYS is an integrated flow simulator that allows the modelling of a single and multiphase static and dynamic flow for pipeline hydraulics. This is done by maintaining the inlet parameters (Pressure, Temperature, and mass flow rate) and a pressure drop at a range of length. The process includes using the Peng Robinson (PR) Equation of State and the Beggs and Brills-Moody pressure drop correlation to calculate the PVT behaviour and flow regime respectively. Also, artificial neural networks(ANN) using MATLAB was employed to train and verified the data obtained. The results shows that the models can be used effectively to determine and predict the effects of pipe diameter to flow capacity of CO₂ pipelines.

Introduction

Climate change is the greatest environmental challenge the world is faced with, and calls for extensive reductions in global CO₂ emissions (Palmer., 2004). An important response to the climate challenge is making use of CO₂ capture and storage technology. The implementation of this technology might also constitute a significant contribution to an environmental future-oriented development and the workforce of the economy.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) can be divided into four stages, in terms of technology and costs. These includes Capture the CO₂ from the source; transportation of the CO₂ from the source to the sink (a suitable geological formation); storage which includes injection of the CO₂; and monitoring, mitigation, and verification (MMV). For large quantities and distances required for CO₂ sequestration, it is well established that pipeline transport is the most economical to improve efficiency and reduce costs (Svensson et al, 2004., IEA GHG, 2005., Zhang et al, 2006).