Reverse the Tide on Carbon Capture and Storage
Modeling and simulation can make carbon capture and storage economically viable. Here’s everything you need to know.
The air smells clean. As you get closer, you see steam rising from the stacks. Workers in hard hats move around the capture site, checking gauges to ensure carbon dioxide (CO2) is separated from other gases and safely transported via a network of pipes. In a world that relies on fossil fuels, carbon capture and storage offers a way to decarbonize emission-heavy industries.
45 Mt
Metric tons of CO2 captured globally1
120x
Expected CCUS uptake by 2050 to achieve net-zero2
100 billion tons
Projected amount of CO2 to store by 20603
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has clarified that global greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 and be reduced by 43% by 20304. One of the ways to do this is to substantially remove CO2 from existing systems — a goal carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) aims to achieve.
Guide: The Plan To Cool the Planet
Includes a cheat sheet for scaling up CCUS with modeling and simulation.
Carbon capture and storage is part of the CCUS process of extracting CO2 emissions from a large-scale source — for example, a power station or cement factory — for geological storage or industrial utilization. Once a fringe idea, CCUS has been gaining increasing attention as a potential solution to mitigate climate change.
The cost of carbon capture and storage technology is one of the major challenges. The capture, transportation, and storage of CO2 require significant investment, and the high cost of CCUS makes it uneconomical for many companies and countries. In addition, there are technological hurdles to clear, including:
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How to Make CCUS More Cost-Effective?
Take a closer look below at how modeling and simulation on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform can help companies boost the adoption of CCUS.
1. Capture More With Less
Molecular modeling and multi-physics simulation have been useful in the development of new carbon capture technologies where companies can:
- Predict the performance of different solvents or membranes under various operating conditions to identify sustainable capture materials
- Optimize the solvent composition, temperature, pressure, and flow rate to maximize the efficiency of the capture process
- Screen hundreds of thousands of ionic liquids to identify promising candidates that have the correct volatility and CO2 absorbance properties
2. Strengthen Infrastructure
It’s crucial to maintain the integrity of pipelines and other infrastructure components in CO2 transportation.
How does the fluid flow within the pipeline? Will pumping stations be able to cope with larger volumes of CO2? What’s the best way to lower the risks of equipment downtime? By simulating the behavior of CO2 in pipelines, companies can identify potential issues, such as corrosion or blockages, and develop strategies to prevent or mitigate these issues.
3. Improve Carbon Sequestration
Need to identify suitable carbon storage sites and determine the best injection strategies to ensure the safety of carbon sequestered? Use molecular modeling and geomechanics simulations on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to predict the behavior of CO2 in geological storage.
Analyze rock formations at a mesoscale level and answer these questions: How fast can CO2 be injected into the subsurface? How much CO2 can the formation contain? And most importantly, can the sequestered carbon escape?
What’s the capacity, risk and uncertainty associated with a sub-surface CO2 storage site? Virtual geological and geomechanical models are essential to evaluate the robustness of CO2 injection sites.
4. Put Carbon to Good Use
By converting CO2 into useful products, such as fuels or chemicals, CCUS can become a valuable tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while providing economic benefits. Through modeling and simulation, companies can virtually design and innovate new catalysts with the most yield and the least waste.
5. Collaboration Made Easy
Extensive collaboration is needed between governments, companies and other key stakeholders to make CCUS a success. In a connected environment like the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, all stakeholders can collaborate on the same 3D models — thanks to a multi-scale virtual twin from territory to equipment level — while maintaining regulatory compliance and gaining the capabilities needed to secure funding for more projects.
Aim for Progress
As the world faces the urgent challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, CCUS will play a pivotal role in achieving a sustainable future. Modeling and simulation will continue to be essential for its development and deployment.
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1Source: “Carbon capture, utilization and storage” by IEA (2022)
2Source: “Scaling the CCUS industry to achieve net-zero emissions” by McKinsey & Co. (2022)
3Source: “The Role of CO2 Storage” by IEA (2019)
4Source: “The time for action is now. We can halve emissions by 2030” by IPCC (2022)
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