The CO2 Efficient Transport via Ocean (CETO) joint industry project (JiP) concluded recently with the release of a report describing the Technology Qualification performed in the study. The project partners, including Equinor, Gassco, Shell, TotalEnergies, and DNV, have found no technological showstoppers to a low-pressure CO2 ship transport chain. The project partners and Gassnova funded CETO through the CLIMIT-Demo program.
CO2 ship transport chain
For Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) to play a significant role in helping the world reduce emissions, transporting large amounts of CO2 will be vital. Pipelines will be an option, but where the capture source and storage sites are unable to be easily connected, ship transport will be crucial. To achieve the scale required for commercial viability, however, low-pressure ship solutions (approximately 7 bar at -49ºC) are regarded as an attractive alternative.
During the Technology Qualification process, the project partners examined fundamental aspects of the CO2 ship transport value chain. The production of liquid CO2, the characteristics and impurities in liquid CO2 that could affect transport, the plant concept, cargo handling, to the basic design of a 30,000 m3 Liquid CO2 carrier were all evaluated and assessed.
CETO demonstrated that shipping CO2 at low-pressure conditions is feasible and that the technology is ready for first use. In terms of the vessel design, the activities show that a dedicated LCO2 carrier could be designed according to the relevant international rules and regulations, including the IMO IGC code and the DNV ship rules for global strength and stability. The testing campaign on a medium-scale pilot plant demonstrated that cargo handling operations in the range of 6 to 9 barg could be carried out without dry ice formation.
Finally, the accuracy and suitability of design process simulation tools were benchmarked with good agreement against experimental tests, and the benefits of dynamic process simulations on a full-scale design case were demonstrated. However, there were aspects of the transport chain that would require particular attention during project development, such as material selection for cargo tanks, fatigue, and sloshing loads.
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Source: DNV
