Most of NGL’s transport and gas processing capabilities are located at the new purpose-built CO2 Geosequestration Research Laboratory (CO2 Lab) at The University of Western Australia in Perth. Additional capability is available across the other NGL sites.
The CO2 Lab is designed to provide critical data to inform research into the most efficient, cost-effective and safe ways to process and transport CO2 for carbon storage purposes. This includes scientific research into the properties of fluid mixtures and how they interact with CO2. This data can be compared with geophysical information to accurately model and predict how injected CO2 will behave in the storage site.
The research is also focused on addressing the different research challenges around transporting CO2 to the storage site. This involves understanding how impurities from pipelines or the industrial processes that generate or capture the CO2 impact the behaviour of the fluid during transport and storage.
Location
The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Perth
Contact
Linda Stalker
Linda.Stalker@csiro.au
CCS applications
NGL’s transport and gas processing capabilities can help improve the interpretation of data collected through geophysical research at the site characterisation phase of the CCS process to improve models and better predict storage scenarios. Improved thermodynamic models for CO2 mixtures at subsurface conditions will improve estimates of the fluid’s compressibility. This knowledge is important in the analysis of seismic measurements.
The research is also investigating the fundamental science behind how different chemicals react with CO2 which will help make simulations of the CCS process more accurate, efficient and therefore, cost effective.
New research into gas hydrate formation is looking at the possibility of replacing natural gas compounds within the hydrate sediment with CO2 to both extract the natural gas and store CO2 which would be a novel and near-carbon neutral method of energy production.
The NGL facility has some unique and specialised equipment including a micromechanical force (MMF) apparatus which is one of only three in the world, and a high-pressure and high-temperature densimeter which is the only one in Australia currently used for CCS research.
Other applications
This equipment and capabilities also have various applications across the oil and gas industry including:
- Natural gas processing
- Flow assurance
- Unconventional gas production
- Hydrates in nature
Example Equipment
- Autoclave
- High-pressure and high-temperature densimeter
- High-pressure and high-temperature gravity adsorption rig
- High-pressure rheometer
- Micromechanical force apparatus
- Fluidised-bed reactor
- Georeactor
