• Energy Research
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AbstractThe Controlled Freeze Zone™ technology removes CO2 and H2S from natural gas in a single step cryogenic distillation process. Removal and management of acid gas impurities from natural gas pose significant challenges in developing sour gas fields. In many cases CFZ™ is capable of processing sour gases with a wide range of CO2 and H2S compositions at a lower cost than conventional technologies. The acidic components are removed as a high pressure liquid that can be injected into reservoirs for geosequestration or, when of suitable composition, to improve oil recovery. In either case, sulfur production from H2S and release of CO2 to the atmosphere can be eliminated.CFZ™ technology was successfully demonstrated through earlier pilot plant operations. Currently, ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company is advancing CFZ™ to large scale commercial readiness through a commercial demonstration plant in Wyoming, USA. By building the commercial demonstration plant at ExxonMobil’s world-class Shute Creek gas treating and acid gas injection facility, integration of CFZ™ with acid gas injection, will also be demonstrated when the unit is operated in 2010–2011.

Abstract The impact of CO 2 leakage from underground storage formations on shallow water resources is a concerning aspect in CO 2 capture and storage (CCS) risk assessment. In Campo de Calatrava region (Spain), natural CO 2 fluxes from the Earth’s mantle interact with shallow aquifers, resulting in significant changes in their physical and chemical properties. The resultant water is slightly acidic (pH 5.9-6.4), oxidizing, and enriched in iron (up to 6.1×10 -4 mol·L -1 ) and other metals usually found at trace concentrations. Thermodynamic calculations reveal that aqueous Fe(III) carbonate complexes play an important role in the persistence of this high concentration of iron and trace metals in solution.

AbstractThe efficiency of Geothermal Heat Pumps (GHPs) strongly depends on the site-specific parameters of the ground, which should therefore be mapped for the rational planning of shallow geothermal installations. In this paper, a case study is presented for the potentiality assessment of low enthalpy geothermal energy in the Province of Cuneo, a district of 6900 km2 in Piedmont, NW Italy. The available information on the geology, stratigraphy, hydrogeology, climate etc. were processed and mapped, and conclusions were drawn on the geothermal suitability and productivity of different areas of the territory surveyed.

Abstract Evaluating and monitoring the CO 2 behavior in the reservoir, understanding the mechanism of CO 2 flow and distribution in the water-CO 2 mixture state is essential. In this study, measurement of the complex electrical impedance ( Z ) and P-wave velocity ( V p ) is conducted during the CO 2 injection into the rock core under the reservoir condition. Specimen is low permeable sandstone and injection rate is ultra-low (in the low capillarity number (C n ) area) to high. In addition to measuring Z and V p , differential pressure on the both sides of the specimen and CO 2 saturation (S CO2 ) of the entire specimen are measured. The change of Z and V p are observed according to the change of differential pressure and S CO2 . After the injection test, S CO2 in cross-section of the specimen is estimated using Archie's law and Gassmann's equation (Patchy saturation model) to the experimental results.

Underground Pumped Storage Hydropower (UPSH) is an alternative to manage the electricity production in flat regions. UPSH plants consist of two reservoirs of which at least one is underground. For this last reservoir, abandoned mines could be considered. UPSH related activities may induce hydrochemical variations, such as the increase of the oxygen (O2) partial pressure (pO2), which may entail negative consequences in terms of environment and efficiency, especially in coal mined areas where the presence of sulfide minerals is common. This work assesses the main expected environmental impacts that UPSH using abandoned coal mines may induce. © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. E. Pujades and A. Jurado gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the University of Liège and the EU through the Marie Curie BeIPD-COFUND postdoctoral fellowship programme (2014/16 and 2015/17 fellows from “FP7-MSCA-COFUND, 600405”). This research has been supported by the Public Service of Wallonia – Department of Energy and Sustainable Building. Peer reviewed

AbstractInternational attention has been considerably paid for the technology of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) these days because of global warming. In line with the fact that carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technology has been regarded as one of the most promising option to mitigate the climate change and global warming, we have started a 10-year R&D project on CO2 storage in marine geological structure. We carried out relevant studies, which cover the initial survey of potentially suitable marine geological structure for CO2 storage site, monitoring of the stored CO2 behavior, basic design for CO2 transport and storage process including onshore/offshore plant and assessment of potential environmental risk related to CO2 leakage in storage site. The purpose of this paper is to model and simulate a CO2 flow and its heat transfer characteristics in a storage site for more accurate evaluation of the safety of CO2 storage process.Among CCS technologies, the prediction of CO2 behavior in underground is very critical for CO2 storage design with safety. As a part of the storage design, a micro pore-scale model was developed to mimic real porous structure and CFD (computational fluid dynamics) was applied to calculate the CO2 flow and thermal fields in the micro pore-scale porous structure. Varying CO2 injection conditions, the behavior of the CO2 flow was calculated. Especially, physical conditions such as temperature and pressure were set up equivalent to the underground condition at which the CO2 fluid was injected. From the results, the characteristics of the flow and thermal fields of CO2 were scrutinized and the influence of CO2 injection condition on the flow was investigated in the micro pore-scale porous structure.

AbstractAntibiotic mycelial dreg (AMD) is one of typical industrial wastes with high moisture and nitrogen contents which are difficult to be dealt with. The previous works demonstrated that the hydrothermal pretreatment is feasible for removing moisture and nitrogen contents from AMD so as to upgrade this waste into solid biofuel. Nevertheless, the NO emission characteristics of its combustion are still unknown and needed to be tested. The present work was aimed to clarify this understanding in a laboratory drop tube reactor under the temperature of 1273K. The raw AMD, the hydrothermally pretreated AMD and coal were respectively supplied into the reactor for combustion. The concentration of NO in the flue gas for different samples were measured and compared to evaluate the emission performance of the fuels. Compared to raw AMD, the NO emission of mono-combustion of hydrothermally pretreated AMD was dramatically reduced, whose reduction rate was above 30%. In order to investigate the mechanism of NO reduction, some analyses using Thermo Gravimetric Analyzer (TGA), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and others were performed to reveal the properties of the raw AMD, hydrothermally pretreated AMD and coal. It was shown that the intermediates produced from releasing volatile maters act as reductants for the reduction of NO. The hydrothermal pretreatment can control the NO emission.