The SPE Workshop on CCUS Management was held from 16–18 April 2024 in Qingdao, China. The workshop reviewed recent advances and technical challenges in CCUS management and attracted 104 attendees representing 19 organizations from eight countries.
This is the inaugural SPE Workshop on CCUS Management in China, hosted by Sinopec, with Shell as the principal sponsor. The workshop featured eight themes and 37 presentations, facilitating the exchange of achievements, experiences, and challenges faced by various companies and research institutions.
The workshop was officiated by Li Yang, academician of the CAE Member, and Léon Beugelsdijk, Shell China CCS Technical General Manager. Lv Lianggong, Deputy General Manager of Sinopec, delivered one of the two keynote speeches.
Mr. Lv focused on “Accelerated Green and Low-Carbon Transformation Helps To Enhance Our Future Competitiveness.” He opened the workshop with an overview of China’s Dual Carbon goals and how Sinopec has translated that in their own Low-Carbon Goals. Onno van Kessel, General Manager of Development CCUS, Shell, delivered the other keynote speech. He presented Shell’s global CCS portfolio and highlighted the challenges in upscaling from Mt to Gt.
Yang Yong, Deputy General Manager of Sinopec Shengli Oilfield, delivered the first expert presentation. He highlighted the development of China's first million-ton CCUS project in Shengli Oilfield and introduced some of the technical challenges that needed to be overcome in the capture, transport, and EOR components of the project.
Birol Dindoruk, Professor at University of Houston, delivered another expert presentation. He highlighted the academic advancements in understanding the physical behavior of CO2 and how it will impact our future world by making a link between energy, environment, and economics.
CCUS is a multi-industry, multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary field that involves policies, regulations, standards, as well as technology, industry, and economics. The workshop was divided into eight technical discussions based on different themes.
The first discussion focused on “CO2 Policy and Mechanism.” To enable CCUS/CCS business in China, policy and mechanism are gaining more attention. The conversation covered policy/regulatory frameworks as well as methodologies.
The second discussion mainly focused on “Selecting and Developing Carbon Capture Sites.” This session explored the link between CO2 storage site appraisal in relation to available CO2 sources and elaborated on the approaches and techno-economic methodologies used to evaluate CO2 supply to select and optimize CCUS hub projects.
The third discussion focused on “CO2 Capture and Transport Technologies.” This technical system covered CO2 capturing, transportation, and transformation into other resources.
The fourth discussion addressed “CO2 EOR/Oil Flooding/Utilization,” focusing on mechanisms, key technologies, practices, and understandings of CCUS-EOR.
The fifth discussion titled “CO2 Sequestration” delved into capacity, containment, and injectivity of CO2 storage.
The sixth discussion mainly focused on the “Integrity Aspect of CCUS Wells,” thoroughly examining the critical components of well integrity within the context of CCUS operations, emphasizing its paramount importance for the safe and effective deployment of carbon sequestration technologies.
The seventh discussion focused on “Offshore (Including Subsea Installation),” expounding on the evaluation of marine storage sites, marine CO2 transport and wellbore safety, subsea installation, and more.
The eighth discussion, “CO2 Measurement, Monitoring, Verification (MMV),” covered monitoring technologies and networks, qualitative and quantitative risk analysis, etc.
The entire process of CCUS technology is highly complex, encompassing CO2 capture and equipment, production and development of high-pressure transportation pipelines, geological storage and efficient oil recovery utilization, underground monitoring and transportation, and many other aspects.
Sinopec Shengli Oilfield has completed the first million-ton CCUS demonstration project in China. At the same time, China's first million-ton, 100-km high-pressure, ambient temperature, and dense-phase CO2 transportation pipeline—the Qilu Petrochemical Shengli Oilfield Million-Ton CCUS Project—has been officially put into operation. Experts attending the workshop believed that the completion of CO2 long-distance pipelines has filled the technical gaps in the full chain and large-scale development of CCUS and is of great significance for promoting the large-scale development of China's CCUS industry chain.
New technology plays an important role in achieving multipath, high-efficiency, and low-cost CCUS carbon reduction. Promoting the development and application of CCUS technology requires joint efforts and international cooperation. Sinopec attached great importance to CCUS technology research and innovation, and coordinated the joint research and development of industry, academia, and research to promote collaborative innovation. Sinopec conducts core technology research and development focusing on key areas such as low-concentration CO2 capture, industrial utilization, storage, and carbon sink measurement. It actively constructs CCUS full-chain demonstration zones. Technology costs can be reduced through technological research and large-scale application.
The government needs to improve legal regulations and policy support, establish reasonable incentive and compensation mechanisms, and create a market environment conducive to CCUS investment and operation. Only by overcoming various challenges can CCUS technology truly play its role and make positive contributions to the global response to climate change. Therefore, the government, enterprises, research institutions, and all sectors of society should work together to strengthen cooperation and promote the commercial application of CCUS technology.