Last month, Total S.A. (Paris, France; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6893-531) launched what is claimed to be the world’s first integrated carbon-dioxide-capture and geological-sequestration project. From the end of 2008, up to 150,000 m.t. of CO2 will be injected into a depleted natural gas field in Rousse (Pyrenees) over a period of two years. The €60-million project will be carried out with partner Air Liquide and in cooperation with the French Petroleum Institute (IFP; both Paris), the French Bureau of Geological and Mining Research and others.
In the first step of the process, oxygen instead of air will be used for combustion in a steam-production unit at the Lacq gas-processing plant. The oxy-combustion yields a more concentrated CO2 stream – 90% compared to 5% from combustion with air – that will be easier to capture. The CO2-rich stream is then dehydrated, compressed to about 30 bar and pipelined to the depleted Rousse field, 30 km from Lacq. At the site, the CO2 will then be compressed to 50 bar and injected through an existing well into a rock formation 4,500 m underground.