Carbon capture and storage is a mitigation strategy that can be used to aid the reduction of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. This process aims to capture CO2 from large point-source emitters and transport it to a long-term storage site. For much of Europe, these deep storage sites are anticipated to be sited below the sea bed on continental shelves. A key operational requirement is an understanding of best practice of monitoring for potential leakage and of the environmental impact that could result from a diffusive leak from a storage complex. Here we describe a controlled CO2 release experiment beneath the seabed, which overcomes the limitations of laboratory simulations and natural analogues. The complex processes involved in setting up the experimental facility and ensuring its successful operation are discussed, including site selection, permissions, communications and facility construction. The experimental design and observational strategy are reviewed with respect to scientific outcomes along with lessons learnt in order to facilitate any similar future. This is a publication in QICS Special Issue - International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, Peter Taylor et. al. Doi:10.1016/j.ijggc.2014.09.007.

This poster on the UKCCSRC Call 2 project The Development and Demonstration of Best Practice Guidelines for the Safe Start-up Injection of CO2 into Depleted Gas Fields was presented at the CSLF Call project poster reception, London, 27.06.16. Grant number: UKCCSRC-C2-183. Highly-depleted gas fields represent prime potential targets for large-scale storage of captured CO2 emitted from industrial sources and fossil-fuel power plants. Given the potentially low reservoir pressures as well as the unique thermodynamic properties of CO2, especially in the presence of the various stream impurities, the injection process presents significant safety and operational challenges. In particular, the start-up injection leads to the following risks: • blockage due to hydrate and ice formation following the contact of the cold CO2 with the interstitial water around the wellbore; • thermal stress shocking of the wellbore casing steel, leading to its fracture and ultimately escape of CO2; • over-pressurisation accompanied by CO2 backflow into the injection system due to the violent evaporation of the superheated liquid CO2 upon entry into the wellbore.

Simplified reservoir models are used to estimate the boundary conditions (pressure, temperature and flow) that are relevant to the primary aims of this project. A set of boundary conditions are defined at the wellhead that represent the behaviour of the store. Data relates to publication: Sanchez Fernandez, E., Naylor, M., Lucquiaud, M., Wetenhall, B., Aghajani, H., Race, J., Chalmers, H. Impacts of geological store uncertainties on the design and operation of flexible CCS offshore pipeline infrastructure (2016) International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 52, pp. 139-154. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84978197316&doi=10.1016%2fj.ijggc.2016.06.005&partnerID=40&md5=d567f0e06f561613554a1f1c2e230194 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2016.06.005

Many of the research results from the SACS and CO2STORE projects are published in the scientific literature but in a somewhat fragmented form. This report consolidates some of the key findings into a manual of observations and recommendations relevant to underground saline aquifer storage, aiming to provide technically robust guidelines for effective and safe storage of CO2 in a range of geological settings. This will set the scene for companies, regulatory authorities, nongovernmental organisations, and ultimately, the interested general public, in evaluating possible new CO2 storage projects in Europe and elsewhere. The report can be downloaded from http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/2959/.

EPSRC project EP/K035878/1 - The DiSECCS seismic analysis toolbox comprises a series of codes which implement various algorithms for analysing post-stack seismic data acquired as part of a geological carbon sequestration monitoring programme. The tools focus on determining the thickness, saturation distribution and physical properties of CO2 layers imaged on seismic data. The toolbox also contains a number of new rock physics models developed as part of the DiSECCS project in the form of Mathematica notebooks.

Oxy-fuel combustion has been recognised as one of the very competitive technologies for CO2 capture in the power generation sector. Its importance for CCS technology development in the UK is evident from the Government's recent decision to fund the FEED study on White Rose Partnership project. Traditionally furnace design replies on experience based design plots and some modelling analysis. High concentration of CO2 in oxy-fuel combustion leads to a substantial change in the radiation property of the furnace and therefore CFD modelling is becoming a critical predictive and design tool. The main aims of this project are to collect a comprehensive and much needed set of data for radiation model development by measuring experimentally the combustion and heat transfer properties, including direct radiative heat flux measurements and other combustion processes, in the state-of-the-art 250kW PACT oxy-combustion test facilities and the 35MW large scale oxy-combustion plant at HUST in China. The data will then be used to develop further and validate the next generation Full-Spectrum Correlated k distributions (FSCK) model that is currently under development at Leeds. The developed and validated CFD models may then be employed with more confidence to predict, analyse and optimise the operation of future full scale CCS plant for system scale up. Grant number: UKCCSRC-C2-193.

This project aims to build on and strengthen joint industry research programmes between Edinburgh, Doosan Power Systems in the UK and Sulzer ChemTech, a world leading manufacturer of separation processes equipment, with the objectives to move beyond current concepts for designing CO2 absorption columns for base-load operation, and towards new columns capable of meeting the requirements for flexible and highly dynamic operation of CCS power plants. It is an important research for the UK to ensure that conventional power plants fitted with CCS can become a source of dispatchable and low carbon energy to complement non-dispatchable renewable technologies such as wind or solar power. We propose to demonstrate the capabilities of novel ways to use solvent property instrumentation to significantly enhance the dynamic flexibility of the amine pilot plant at the UK CCS Research Centre Pilot Advanced Capture Testing facilities and to develop an underpinning understanding of the capabilities of state-of-the-art hardware, such as structured packing,liquid distributors, used in and around packed columns. Grant number: UKCCSRC-C2-214.

In this study, two strategies, thermal pretreatment and chemical doping, were investigated as a method of improving the residual carrying capacity of Longcliffe and Havelock limestone for calcium looping systems. Four parameters were varied during thermal pretreatment: temperature (900-1100 degrees C), time (3-12 hr), gas composition (0-100 % CO2 balanced in N2) and particle size (90-355 micrometre). After pre-calcination, the sorbents were subjected to 20 carbonation-calcination cycles performed in a thermographic analyser (TGA) to monitor any signs of sorbent improvement. The degradation of sorbent activity was modelled using the decay equation suggested by Grasa and Abanades (2006). Both Longcliffe and Havelock samples showed self-reactivation when pretreated under CO2, however this did not result in a greater carrying capacity after 20 carbonation/calcination cycles compared to the untreated limestone. For chemical doping, Longcliffe doped using 0.167 mol % HBr via quantitative wet impregnation method resulted in an increase in residual carrying capacity of 27.4 % after thermal pre-treatment under CO2 when compared to the untreated but doped limestone, assuming self-reactivation continued as modelled. When Longcliffe was doped and then pretreated under pure N2, the limestone showed self-reactivation, which was not seen in the undoped sorbent when also pretreated under N2. Thus, the success of pretreatment may be dependent on the chemical composition of the limestone. Finally, BET surface area and BJH pore volume analysis was used to understand the changes in the sorbents' morphologies. The closure of the mesopores (dpore<150 nm) after the pretreatment was correlated to the self-reactivation in the subsequent cycles.

Saline Aquifer CO2 Storage Phase 2(SACS2). Work Area 1 (Geology) - Progress Report 1 April to 31 December 2000. The report can be downloaded from http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/511460/.

The dataset contains 15 plots and data for time-dependent pressures and temperatures at various locations along a 2582-m-long well and at various simulation times. The realistic scenarios taken into considerations are applied to the Goldeneye depleted reservoir in the North Sea. Pure CO2 is injected into the well and then discharged in the Goldeneye reservoir. Six different scenarios are considered: three different injection durations (linear ramp-up of the inlet mass flow rate from 0 to 33.5 kg/s over 5 minutes, 30 minutes, and 2 hours) and two different upstream temperatures (278.15 K and 283.15 K). Data is currently restricted until publication.