ImpuritieS ImPacts and ManagEment for CO2 Storage

To achieve the EU’s challenging objectives of carbon emission reduction, CCS is a key part of the solution to decarbonize industry. So, the deployment of CCS is set to reach industrial levels in the coming years. With the impending increase of capture capacity, storage operators will have to combine CO2 streams coming from different sources. Mixing these CO2 streams, with different impurity compositions, can induce specific challenges for the design and safe operation of CO2 transport and storage networks. Furthermore, Directive 2009/31EC mandates that the CO2 stream impurities should be below levels that pose a significant risk to the transport and storage integrity, the environment, or human health. However, while considerable research has addressed the impact of impurities on CO2-transport, focusing on both corrosion and flow assurance challenges, the impact of impurities on the integrity of the storage complex itself (comprising well(s), reservoir rock, and caprock) has received little attention. Even so for each component of the storage complex that can be specifically impacted by CO2 mixed with impurities. The SPECS project aims at unravelling the impacts of impurities system-wide, from the injection well to the caprock. Besides increasing the understanding of the effects of impure CO2 flows and derisk impurities presence in the storage complex, SPECS ambition is to provide protective/mitigation/monitoring solutions, as well as guidance and recommendations for technology providers and regulatory authorities, in order to be able to contribute to standardization work in collaboration with certification and standardisation bodies. The overall ambition of the project is to facilitate access to storage for more CO2 stream mixes and enhance the CCS chain economics. SPECS project concept is based on an integrative approach of the impact of impurities on the storage complex from the wells to the caprock.