(163c) Transport and Storage of Captured Carbon Dioxide in South Korea

The continuous increase of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from power plants and other large industrial sources is major cause of global climate change. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is widely seen as a practical technology for reducing CO₂ emissions. CCS mainly consists of capturing CO₂ from stationary sources and its transportation to a sequestration site where it can be stored safely for long period of time. Average CO₂ emission growth rate of Korea is 1.0% which is the second highest among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Korea has three potential storage basins namely Ulleung, Kunsan and Jeju located in the East, West and South of Korea mainland respectively. All of the three basins are located offshore; therefore, it becomes even more challenging when CO₂ is transported to an offshore storage since there is little experience with subsea pipelines for CO₂ transportation. In this study, a plausible transport and storage model scheme has been developed and then employed to study different offshore CO₂ transportation cases for South Korea as: CO₂ transport in liquid phase (Temperature= -20°C, Pressure= 6.50 MPa); CO₂ transport in liquid phase (Temperature= 5°C, Pressure= 9.30 MPa); CO₂ transport in supercritical phase (Temperature= 40°C, Pressure= 15.00 MPa). This study critically analyzes pipeline diameter calculation methods and optimum operational range for pipeline parameters. This study discusses economic aspects of various transport and storage scenarios in terms of thermodynamics conditions, and basin location and depth, respectively. This has been done by estimating the CO₂ storage capacity in Korea and then selecting the most promising storage site in terms of safety and cost 150 km away from the source location. CO₂ storage capacity for sedimentary basins of Korea was evaluated between 19- 27.2 Gt (giga-ton) of CO₂ using the Department of Energy (DOE) methodology. Transport cost varies between 10.9- 15.5 US$/tCO₂ while storage cost ranges between 20.8- 21.3US$/tCO₂ depending on specific scenario and depth at which CO₂ is stored. Sensitivity analysis showed a decrease in storage cost of 62.4% and 93.6% in 2030 and 2050 respectively for projected CO₂ volumes in Korea. This model is useful for performing an economic analysis to check feasibility of a project before a detailed design is made.

Acknowledgement: This research was supported by the second phase of the Brain Korea 21 Program in 2012, Institute of Chemical Processes in Seoul National University, Energy Efficiency & Resources Development of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) grant funded by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) and grant from the LNG Plant R&D Center funded by the Ministry of Land, Transportation and Maritime Affairs (MLTM) of the Korean government.