Scientists from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland have secured new funding from energy majors TotalEnergies and Equinor to investigate the thermodynamic behaviour of typical carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) fluids.
The research is critical for the safe and efficient processing, transportation, and storage of fluids.
The two-year project builds on the Edinburgh university’s long-standing expertise in CCUS research and aims to improve thermodynamic models to predict the phase behaviour of CO2 rich mixtures, specifically focusing on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as the impurities.
The project outcomes will help establish optimum operational conditions throughout the CCUS chain as well as environmental compliance and proper CO2 storage.
In CCUS systems, VOCs are often found in the captured CO2 stream, primarily originating from the source. VOCs include, for example, benzene, toluene, xylene (BTX), aldehydes (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde), and various hydrocarbons depending on the fuel source and capture conditions.
Since the institution’s first CCUS related joint industry project in 2011, a specialist research group based in the School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society has developed advanced laboratories and expertise in experimental and modelling studies of the thermophysical properties of CCUS fluids.
Today, the group collaborates with more than ten major CCUS operators worldwide through consultancy and research projects.
Dr Pezhman Ahmadi, project lead from the specialist Hydrate, Flow Assurance and Phase Equilibria (HFAPE) research group at Heriot-Watt University, said, “For safety and technical reasons, understanding the thermodynamic behaviour of a fluid is key to its successful processing, transportation, and storage.”
“In CCUS projects, where the working fluid is usually a CO2-rich mixture, the presence of impurities significantly influences the behaviour of the fluid in comparison to a pure CO2 stream. While thermodynamic models for pure CO2 are reliable thanks to abundant experimental data, impure CO2 streams, which are common in industry, pose challenges due to limited data and deficiencies in existing models.
“This project focuses on volatile organic compounds as a critical category of impurities so we can better understand the influence of this type of impurities and address this data gap.”
Professor Antonin Chapoy, project co-lead, said its modelling studies provide precise thermodynamic models that improve the safety, technical and economic aspects of CCUS operations.
“These models help reduce operational risks, such as hydrate or dry ice formation, and minimise costs while enhancing efficiency in the transportation and storage of CO2-rich fluids.”
The group was involved in the recent Northern Lights project, Norway’s pioneering carbon storage initiative that launched in September 2024 and recently announced its next phase.
