Carbon capture and storage (CCS) can make a promising contribution for reducing the amount of anthropogenic carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere and thus can help in containing the greenhouse effect. While the different capture and storage technologies for carbon dioxide are under extensive investigation, long distance transportation and re-injection issues have been neglected. Natural and synthetic carbon dioxide are transported in the USA for enhanced oil recovery purposes since the 1980s, but the transport of anthropogenic carbon dioxide will make new demands on the pipelines because of the different impurities in the gas originating from different sources of the carbon dioxide.

This work describes a joint industry project which has the aim of investigating several aspects of the pipeline transportation issue for CCS. The ongoing research covers an in-depth study on the likely composition and constitution of the carbon dioxide mixtures coming out of the capture process. Its results are providing the basis for the experimental tasks of the project. Here, the effect of anthropogenic carbon dioxide gas mixtures on different corrosion phenomena is investigated and various corrosion control concepts are tested. The experimental approach will include both lab testing and large scale tests on complete pipe sections. Furthermore, the dispersion behaviour of carbon dioxide upon release from the pipeline is studied in terms of experimental work accompanied by flow and dispersion simulations. The results of these investigations will contribute to the definition of standards and guidelines for designing and operating carbon dioxide pipeline networks. The project is initiated by a consortium of companies encompassing an electricity and gas transporter (National Grid), two energy providers (GdF SUEZ and Open Grid Europe), an oil and gas company and energy provider (eni) and three pipe manufacturers (EUROPIPE, Salzgitter Mannesmann Line Pipe and Vallourec & Mannesmann Tubes) supported by two research centres (Centro Sviluppo Materiali and Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung) all contributing to other aspects of transporting carbon dioxide.