Using in-house process design capability, Costain has filed a patent application at the UK patent office for a process to effectively separate very high levels of carbon dioxide from associated gas.
The developed process technology is particularly suitable for use in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) says Costain, as it removes carbon dioxide with lower energy consumption and potentially smaller equipment than current competing technologies.
Not only are the processing costs much lower but the process also produces natural gas to conventional transmission specifications as well as natural gas liquids (NGL) for use as fuel and/or petrochemical feedstock.
“If carbon dioxide were stored in existing oil reservoirs rather than in spent oil or gas reservoirs, as is usually considered, then the carbon dioxide can significantly increase oil production from the reservoir to provide considerable revenues” said Adrian Finn, Costain’s Process Technology Manager.
“As the carbon dioxide effectively drives out oil and associated gas from the reservoir it will eventually start to appear in the associated gas and will require removal and recycle to the reservoir. The process technology that has been developed separates the carbon dioxide from the associated gas to provide pure high pressure liquid carbon dioxide suitable for recycle,” said Adrian.