TOPIC 'Environment' on Jan 14, 2009 (CET)
Carbon Dioxide – Capture and Bury Is Another Alternative
In central Algeria, the In Salah gas project is separating carbon dioxide out of natural gas and sending it through a pipeline to destinations in Europe. The Krechba natural gas treatment facility is located about 1,200 km from Algiers. This project is the result of efforts by Sonatrach of Algeria, Statoil of Norway, and BP of Britain. This joint venture has been ongoing for four years, and the managers of the project team have said it is “the world’s first and largest onshore carbon capture and sequestration scheme.”
This is innovation at work. Natural gas from the Krechba field has a carbon dioxide content of 9.1 percent. To market and sell natural gas to Europe, the carbon dioxide content can be no more than 0.3 percent. This is an enormous difference. The group decided to remove an abundance of the CO2 from the gas by pumping it through a solution of liquid amine. Amine is a chemical that is able to seek out and remove CO2 from the natural gas. It can eliminate virtually all of it.
The next question becomes what to do with the carbon dioxide that has been removed. There are two options: release it into the atmosphere (which would not be a good byproduct of the process) or bury it back into the ground. Those responsible for the operation of this facility made the right decision and chose to bury it 1,850 metres below the ground surface.
The In Salah project is located in the Sahara Desert and covers an area of 3,000 square kilometers. It is literally in the middle of nowhere, and the area often suffers turbulent sand storms. The nearest community is 200 km and is best reached via air. Workers on the project rotate on a schedule of four weeks on and four weeks off, working 12 hour days, with the exception of weekends. Few amenities are available.
For other regions of the world who might consider this method of separating and burying CO2, there is one catch. The burial place of the CO2 must be able to be verifiably contained. Managers of the project say there is no worry about that at the Krechba field site.
Sherry Irvin
on behalf of the
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