FEATURE MONITORING & METERING


Monitoring the development of CCS technologies


The development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies relies on the accurate measurement of carbon dioxide. So, an advanced FTIR multiparameter gas analyser from Gasmet Technologies is being used at the UK Carbon Capture & Storage Research Centre (UKCCSRC) to monitor levels of CO2


and other gases


facilities, specialist research and analytical facilities. The Beighton site near Sheffield provides researchers and industry with pilot-scale facilities for all three of the carbon capture methods. Here, an advanced FTIR multiparameter gas analyser from Gasmet Technologies is being used. PACT business development manager,


Dr Kris Milkowski, from the University of Leeds, commented: “FTIR gas analysis performs a vital role in our work with all of these methods, enabling us to monitor CO2


levels in addition to almost any other gas from the Gasmet library of over 5,000 compounds. For example, in addition to CO2


monitoring of the CCS


plant exhaust, it is also necessary to check for solvents and any degradation products that may be present.” Milkowski goes on to explain that racks


I


t is well known that the combustion of carbon-based fuels creates CO2


, a


greenhouse gas which contributes to global warming and issues such as ocean acidification. Global initiatives are therefore now in place to reduce emissions of CO2


, including the UK’s


legally binding target to lower greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% (from the 1990 baseline) by 2050. There are a number of ways in which


this can be achieved – by switching to renewable sources such as biomass, solar, wind and tidal energy, by utilising energy more efficiently, and by developing low-carbon technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS). CCS is able to remove up to 90% of the


CO2


emissions from combustion and power generation plants by first capturing carbon, second transportation and thirdly deposition in a selected geological rock


16 JULY/AUGUST 2014 | INSTRUMENTATION


formation that is typically located several kilometres below the earth’s surface – in depleted oil and gas fields or deep saline aquifers, for example. There are three possible methods


for carbon capture: pre-combustion capture, post-combustion capture and oxyfuel combustion. These technologies, however, need to be developed and trialled on a pilot-scale before they can be implemented. Funded jointly by the Engineering and


Physical Sciences Research Council and the Department of Energy and Climate Change with six University partners (Cranfield, Edinburgh, Imperial, Leeds, Nottingham and Sheffield), the UKCCSRC PACT facilities enable research into advanced fossil-fuel energy, bioenergy and carbon capture technologies. These include a comprehensive range of pilot-scale


The UKCCSRC PACT facilities enable research into advanced fossil-fuel energy, bioenergy and carbon capture technologies


of single-parameter analysers were previously being used, but this limited work to a small number of gases. FTIR, however, offers the ability to identify unknown peaks in the data, and provides the facility to analyse recorded spectra retrospectively. As a result, in the future it will be possible to measure compounds that were not necessarily of interest at the time the analysis took place. Commenting on the benefits, Milkowski


added: “The flexibility of the DX4000 system is extremely important for our work because each programme of research studies different aspects of combustion control and carbon capture, so the ability to specify measurement parameters for each programme is a major advantage. “The portability of the analyser is also a great benefit because it can be quickly relocated when necessary, including deployment at industrial sites and with a transportable CCS system that is based in Edinburgh. This unit is capable of processing 25-50m3


of flue gas per day and runs a number of small-scale test / INSTRUMENTATION


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