COLLATE

Challenge:

Developing cost-effective CO2 storage is fundamental to achieving the Danish climate goals. As storage in a depleted hydrocarbon field can provide a cost-effective option, it is crucial that the wells already in place can be qualified for CO2 management. This requires significant CO2 corrosion testing facilities.

Geological storage of CO2 will result in the formation of corrosive conditions in the subsurface, where supercritical CO2 and formation sand are mixed at up to 300 Bar and 100 oC. Under these conditions, heavy corrosion can occur if the right steel and cement are not used.

Therefore, in order to ensure safe and long-term storage of CO2, the well material must be tested under the relevant subsurface conditions corresponding to the specific conditions on the site.

At present, there are CO2 corrosion testing facilities at a few technological and research institutes, as well as at the large companies that supply exotic materials for hydrocarbon infrastructure. However, there is a lack of a cost-effective and appropriate commercial CO2 testing facility where dozens of samples can be tested at the same time.

Solution:

The project COLLATE (CO2 Liquid LAboratory TEsting) aims to develop a test chamber where corrosion of material from drilling wells, metal and cement can be tested under the expected subsurface conditions in the future CO2 storage sites.

The COLLATE test chamber will allow several samples (+10) to be tested in the same test run. This will enable future material selection for CO2 storage sites to increase the amount and configuration of corrosion tests, thereby making the optimal choice.

The test chamber configuration has already been documented by the development of a prototype test chamber (TRL 5). The COLLATE project will optimize and improve the operational configuration as well as increase the number of materials tested. With this approach, the goal is to mature the test chamber facility to TRL 8 so that the chamber facility can be commercialized after project completion.

Effect:

The project will enable the test chamber to be ‘ready for commercial use’ by 2023, thus contributing to the design of CO2 storage sites that enable the 2030 climate targets.