Introducing carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) to the University of Southampton
Lindsay-Marie ArmstrongResearch Fellow
Rm 1051, Building 25
Highfield
Southampton
SO17 1BJ
Why is CCS needed?
What is global warming?
Increase in average global temperatures which can lead to a change in the climate. Key indicators that the world is warming up include:
The what’s and why’s..What is CCS?
CCS involves the extraction and storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industrial processes somewhere other than the atmosphere.
Increased global dependence on energy requires technologies to be developed that not only reduce CO2 emissions but maintain current levels of energy production.
CO2 extraction is considered the future mitigating method to prevent global warming but needs to be thoroughly researched before it can be fully accepted as a long term solution.
(Source: NOAA)
(Source: NOAA)
Natural events and human activities are all contributors, but increased CO2 levels is considered the primary factor.
Levels have peaked considerably since the industrial revolution.
CCS TechnologiesCO2 CAPTURE: 1. Post-combustion
CO2 SEQUESTRATION:
CO2 is removed from the atmosphere by three ways:
Biosphere sinks – natural CO2 reservoirs such as oceans, forests and soils.
Geosphere sinks - occur naturally but require anthropogenic operations to utilise them, e.g., depleted oil reservoirs.
Material sinks - anthropogenically created carbon materials such as chemicals and plastics.
2. Pre-combustion 3. Oxy-fuel
CO2
Amine
Clean gas
CO2 store
d
Heat
CO2
Flue gas
Pressure difference
Coal
H2
CO
Stored CO2
H2
POWER STATION
Amine Absorption Membrane Absorption Adsorption
CoalAir
Gasification
H2O(Water shift)
Gas separation
N2
O2Combustion H2O
Stored CO2
What next?RESEARCH
Carry out research in the technologies with the greatest impact:
• Post-combustion has the greatest applicability across industrial to their existing • Pre-combustion research should continue to improve to develop advanced future
applications
Currently have a PhD student and myself working on amine absorption technologies
Currently have 4 papers on pre-combustion technologies and two papers in post-combustion technologies
Recently received an EPSRC grant of £728,000 to carry out a four year project in the computational modelling of computational modelling amine absorption processes and also to develop a lab-scale carbon capture lab for validation purposes.
Involves a collaboration with Cranfield University and E.ON.
EDUCATION
Looking to set up modules to form an MSc in CCS Technologies
Work with existing modules to consider CCS from an environmental point of view:•SESM6021: Introduction to Energy Technologies•CENV6087: Environmental Impact Assessment•ENVS6006: Environmental Pollution
For engineering development in carbon capture, the modules would fit well with:•SESG6018: Design Search and Optimisation 1: Principles, methods and parameterizations•SESG6019: Design Search and Optimisation 2: Case studies•Group design project (GDP)•SESS6007: Computational Fluid Dynamics
