LARGE-SCALE CO2 TRANSPORTATION AND DEEP OCEAN SEQUESTRATION

Technical and economical feasibility of large-scale CO{sub 2} transportation and ocean sequestration at depths of 3000 meters or grater was investigated. Two options were examined for transporting and disposing the captured CO{sub 2}. In one case, CO{sub 2} was pumped from a land-based collection center through long pipelines laid on the ocean floor. Another case considered oceanic tanker transport of liquid carbon dioxide to an offshore floating structure for vertical injection to the ocean floor. In the latter case, a novel concept based on subsurface towing of a 3000-meter pipe, and attaching it to the offshore structure was considered. Budgetary cost estimates indicate that for distances greater than 400 km, tanker transportation and offshore injection through a 3000-meter vertical pipe provides the best method for delivering liquid CO{sub 2} to deep ocean floor depressions. For shorter distances, CO{sub 2} delivery by parallel-laid, subsea pipelines is more cost-effective. Estimated costs for 500-km transport and storage at a depth of 3000 meters by subsea pipelines and tankers were 1.5 and 1.4 dollars per ton of stored CO{sub 2}, respectively. At these prices, economics of ocean disposal are highly favorable. Future work should focus on addressing technical issues that are critical to the deployment of a large-scale CO{sub 2} transportation and disposal system. Pipe corrosion, structural design of the transport pipe, and dispersion characteristics of sinking CO{sub 2} effluent plumes have been identified as areas that require further attention. Our planned activities in the next Phase include laboratory-scale corrosion testing, structural analysis of the pipeline, analytical and experimental simulations of CO{sub 2} discharge and dispersion, and the conceptual economic and engineering evaluation of large-scale implementation