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A spin-off from Imperial College London, Process Systems Enterprise Ltd (PSE) is one of the world’s leading providers of Advanced Process Modelling technology. PSE has a strong ongoing activity in carbon capture and storage (CCS) applications. Among various other activities, we are currently leading a multi-million project aimed at the development of gCCS, a software package based on PSE’s state-of-the-art gPROMS modelling platform, designed as and end-to-end modelling tool for CCS chains and networks. Commissioned and co-funded by the UK Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), the project also involves E.On, EdF, E4Tech, CO2DeepStore and Rolls-Royce.
Because of the requirement for many stakeholders to be able to model areas of the chain beyond their own specific processes (for example, a key requirement for power generators is the ability to investigate the effects on their operation of amine and compression systems attached to their plants), the tool-kit will provide process models for the whole chain. This will also allow it to be used by groups who require a whole-chain view, such as engineering companies or government departments who need to quantify policy decisions.
The tool-kit includes models for conventional generation (pulverised coal and combined cycle gas turbine), new generation (gasification and oxyfuel), solvent-based carbon capture, compression, transmission and injection. The individual process models are mostly medium-to-high fidelity: multi-component streams; rate-based and/or equilibrium methods for vapour-liquid separation; comprehensive compressor models allowing multi-stage, multi-section compressors with manufacturers curves; and distributed pipeline models for construction of pipeline networks that can take elevation into account. The capture models use rate-based techniques for accurate quantification of chemical and physical capture in order to quantify energy penalties accurately and allow meaningful analysis of transient operations.
In addition, PSE has contributed to techno-economic studies commissioned by the UKs Department of Energy and Climate Change on the viability of industrial CCS and has provided confidential advice to a number of Oil majors in various studies regarding safety and flexibility aspects of CCS systems. |
