Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) is a key component of the Energy Sector Roadmap to transition to Net Zero by 2050. The deployment of CCUS at an industrial scale necessitates the use of long distance transportation of dense CO2 by pipelines to storage or users as part of the value chain. In the United States of America (USA) alone, it is projected that the distance of CO2 pipeline infrastructure could be multiplied by at least a tenfold by 2050.

The current CO2 projects aim at transporting man-made CO2 streams, directly generated from industrial processes, and holding a wide spectrum of contaminants e.g. (but not limited to) sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulphide, hydrogen. These impurities impact pipeline design, operations, integrity threats and management, and these effects have been acknowledged as far back as 2010, as part of the initial European CCUS initiatives (e.g. Cooltrans, Dynamis, SARCO2). Of importance, the influence is commensurate to the CO2 source, and the actual type and level) of contaminants introduced in the streams. This paper provides a review of these impacts with a further emphasis on integrity in the context of CO2 generated from steam-methane reforming process (blue hydrogen) versus. power plants / post-combustion. What have we learnt? And where are the current hurdles and industry gaps to economically and safely transport dense CO2 in a low carbon economy?