SINTEF develops a simulator for save CO2 transport and injection

The Norwegian research institute SINTEF uses its CO2 flow facility to develop a simulator for CO2 transport and injection. This work will be done through CO₂Flow – a new innovation project owned by LedaFlow Technologies and in collaboration with Kongsberg Digital.

The simulator helps to develop ways for safely transporting and injecting carbon dioxide (CO2) without compromising safety or increasing investment costs. The project will leverage the expertise of SINTEF’s Multiphase Flow Laboratory, developed over 20 years in conjunction with the oil and gas industry and their DeFACTO facility. This plant can accurately measure pressure waves up to 160 bar of pressure. This work could accelerate global deployment of CCS technology by reducing design margins and investment costs.

Reducing costs

The new simulator technology developed by SINTEF will enable accurate simulations that can reduce design margins and investment costs related to CO₂ transport and injection systems without compromising safety.

Grethe Tangen, Senior Research Scientist at SINTEF and LedaFlows Project Manager, explains: This is a key technology for fulfilling the net-zero greenhouse gas emission targets by 2050. CO₂Flow aims to advance the multiphase simulator LedaFlow, in order to produce robust and accurate simulations that will enable the safe and cost-efficient transport and injection of CO₂.”

DeFACTO

DeFACTO – Demonstration of Flow Assurance for CO₂ Transport Options – is SINTEF’s world-class CO₂ flow facility that circulates CO2 through a 90-meter-deep U-tube loop. This loop is instrumented with over 100 high-precision, fast-response pressure, and temperature sensors, enabling it to measure pressure waves with a high degree of accuracy.

“It can operate at pressures ranging between 0 and 160 bar, which covers the typical range for CO₂ injection in depleted reservoirs or aquifiers. These features enable DeFACTO to provide data relevant for full-scale CO₂ injection,” said Francesco Finotti, senior business developer at SINTEF.

CO₂Flow is supported by an industry consortium, the Research Council of Norway and CLIMIT, Norways national program for the research, development and demonstration of CCS technology. The project results will be commercialized by Kongsberg Digital, and can then be put into industrial use by the projects partners.