Project goal

The project goal was to verify the effect of Surfactant Alternating Gas (SAG) injection in oil fields in Texas. This is the use of short, alternating injection cycles of surfactant (soap) and gas in order to generate CO₂ foam deep inside the reservoir.

Onshore fields in Texas have both CO₂ and connected infrastructure available, while operating costs are low. CO₂ expertise in industry is high and the pilot results can be gathered quickly due to the short distances between the wells. This is advantageous in terms of scaling it up for use on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

An energy transition technology developed at the University of Bergen used CO₂ foam mobility control in combined CO₂ EOR and carbon storage as part of CCUS.

The research findings show the following

The research findings from the laboratory and the field pilot demonstration showed that CO₂ foam:

• retained more CO₂ than normal CO₂ injection
• reduced CO₂ mobility and improved CO₂ ‘cleansing efficiency’ (displacement efficiency)
• produced more oil than regular CO₂ EOR
• improved CO₂ utilisation
• reduced operating costs and increased revenues

Dialogue with stakeholders in relation to the implementation of the innovation

‘These findings use fresh data, but we are already engaged in dialogue with multiple commercial stakeholders in relation to the implementation of the innovation,’ says project leader Arne Graue of the University of Bergen.

He adds that the technology has the potential to enable a sustainable financial framework for industrial participation in carbon storage on the global stage. According to Graue, the technology may help countries with levels of carbon emissions to realise CCUS, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia.

The delivery and mixing of surfactant solution directly to the wellhead at an onshore oil field in Texas.

Will offer turnkey carbon capture plants for incinerators

Carbon Centric, which is a spin-off of Østfold Energi, will offer turnkey carbon capture plants for incineration plants that are both faster and cheaper than what has been possible so far. The company specializes in carbon capture plants for small and medium-sized combustion lines with emissions of between 10,000 and 100,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year. Now they will raise money to build a carbon capture plant at Østfold Energi’s waste incineration plant in Rakkestad.

Sharing knowledge and experiences

Østfold Energi has been involved in the CLIMIT demo-supported projects around the Øra cluster and BorgCO₂ from the start. Here is also Fortum Olso Varme (FOV), which is part of the Langskip project to share its expertise and experience. The goal of the Langskip project is to pave the way for new CCS projects, so that the probability of achieving the goals in the Paris Agreement increases. Everyone involved in Langskip is obliged to share knowledge and experience beyond what is usual for an industrial project.

– We have learned a lot from this cluster collaboration, where we have looked at everything from various carbon capture technologies – to how to build a complete value chain within CCS, says Häger.

Collaborating with the supplier of the pilot to Fortum Oslo Varme

It is the Norwegian company KANFA that has developed the design Carbon Centric will now use. By using smaller and standardized dimensions, they believe that modular carbon capture plants can be produced almost as off-the-shelf. According to the press release, this means that incineration plants can cut their greenhouse gas emissions in a faster, cheaper and safer way.

It was KANFA who delivered the pilot to FOV, which was mainly financed by the full-scale project. They have also been central in the cost-reducing measures FOV has taken after the preliminary project «DG3».
The company was also involved in a CLIMIT demo project called Offshore CCS, which looked at the design of offshore CO₂ capture facilities. The project was led by the oil company OKEA.

The road map

The roadmap provides recommendations to ministers of the CSLF member countries, and their climate and energy policymakers, on technology developments that are required for CCUS to fulfill the CSLF mission to facilitate the development and deployment of CCS technologies via collaborative efforts that address key technical, economic, and environmental obstacles. 

Borg CO₂ is supported by CLIMIT.

Text: Borg CO₂ and Northern Lights

A joint project between 18 industry partners

Borg CO₂ is a joint project between 18 industry partners and the port of Borg, which will serve as host for a future CO₂ loading terminal. The plan is to transport captured CO₂ to this terminal, where it will be loaded onboard a Northern Lights operated ship for transport to the intermediate storage terminal at Øygarden on the Norwegian west coast. From Øygarden the CO₂ will be injected into a 100 km long pipeline and injected into permanent storage in a reservoir 2.6 km below the seabed.

Borg CO₂ is developing a carbon capture and storage (CCS) solution for emissions from industrial facilities in Fredrikstad, Sarpsborg and Halden. The industrial cluster employs 1,400 people and is responsible for emissions of almost 700,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually. The aim is to capture and store up to 90% of the total emissions, or around 630,000 tonnes a year.

Northern Lights delivers CO₂ transport and storage as a service and aims to enable the decarbonisation of industrial emissions and to facilitate the removal of CO₂ from the air. The company is a joint venture between partners Equinor, Shell and Total.

“This collaboration with Northern Lights is important for the development of carbon capture and storage solutions in the region. Without the pioneering work done by Northern Lights to create an open source third party storage facility, carbon capture would not be possible in our region”, said Tore Lundestad, managing director of Borg CO₂ and Harbour Master for the port of Borg. 

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