Design and optimization of a CO₂ pipeline network for the province of Alberta

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) represents a viable strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Although CO2 capture accounts for 70% of the total cost of CCS, large-scale CCS projects have significant transportation costs. Therefore, there is a growing need to explore alternatives to reduce transportation costs. The goal of this project was to propose an optimized pipeline network capable of transporting 33 million tons of CO2 per year from 6 emission sources to adequately sized and characterized reservoirs (sinks) for sequestration within Alberta. The proposed 1200km-long pipeline network gathers CO2 from sources in Fort McMurray and transports it to the Nisku formation in central Alberta for storage. The sources connected in the pipeline network include the Canadian Natural Resources Horizon Oil Sands, Muskeg River Cogeneration Station, Shell Albian Oil Sands, Syncrude Mildred Lake Plant, Suncor Oil Sands, Suncor Firebag Oil Sands and Nexen Long Lake Oil Sands. Measures have been proposed to ensure that the pipeline is inherently safe. For example, the pipeline has been routed such that no highly-populated areas are traversed. The closest high-populated area is situated 1.5 km away from the pipeline network. CO2 dispersion modeling simulations indicate that this distance ensures no harmful impact on the occupants of these areas.