Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS)

Even while renewable power generation and electrification of transportation drive down overall carbon emissions, industrial processes and existing fossil fuel power plants will continue to be significant emitters. CCUS plays a vital role in achieving net-zero carbon emissions in these areas as it is the primary system for reducing industrial CO₂. In the CCUS methodology, CO₂ is captured at the producing facility and transported to be used directly in various applications, converted into other chemicals (such as hydrogen) or building materials, or stored in an underground reservoir. CCUS results in negative emissions which can directly offset emissions from systems where it is not practical to achieve zero emissions independently.

The rapid growth of the CCUS industry is not without challenges; capture of CO₂ requires specialized equipment that must perform optimally and last for decades while minimizing downtime. SES Renewables is uniquely equipped to provide design, analysis, and testing solutions in this area.

Design & Analysis

CO₂ capture systems often experience combined dynamic thermal-structural loading resulting in fatigue damage that must be quantified and mitigated in the design phase using tools such as finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics analysis. CO₂ stored in reservoirs is also susceptible to migration and leakage, which can be modeled using various analysis techniques. SES Renewables’ understanding of advanced modeling methods, structural design codes, and their application to CCUS adds value to our clients’ engineering teams.

Monitoring & Inspection

Proactively monitoring and inspecting in-service equipment for damage allows for condition-based preventative maintenance of CO₂ capture absorption media and pressurized equipment rather than an interval-based approach. When paired with physics-based digital twins, proactive monitoring results in a significant cost savings for operators compared to traditional methods. SES Renewables’ NeoSight^® platform is designed from the ground up with this in mind.

Testing

CO₂ is typically transported and stored in a supercritical state at high pressures. These pressures require careful design considerations which are often validated by testing. SES Renewables’ expertise in testing pressure containing equipment for CO₂ applications is invaluable to our clients. We have successfully conducted several full-scale tests on CO₂ systems including challenging destructive tests on pressurized systems at low and high temperatures.