Energétique et génie des procédés

ISMME - Ingénierie des Systèmes, Matériaux, Mécanique, Énergétique

STRINGARI Paolo

RIVA Mauro

Energétique et Procédés

15/07/2024

01/10/2024

CO2, Transport, Solidification , CCSU, Carbon Capture and Storage

CO2 , Transport, Solidification , CCSU, Carbon Capture and Storage

During the initial phases of CCS deployment in Europe, it is most likely that larger point sources will be decarbonised, and these may be located far apart. The cost to establish a CO2 transport network will therefore be relatively high. Several studies show that CO2 transport by marine vessels could be the most cost-efficient means of transportation in the initial phases of CCS deployment as well as being more flexible and scalable. The transport by marine vessels is carried out at different temperature and pressure conditions, depending on the size of the ship. For ships with a capacity higher than 20000 m3, CO2 is transported at 7 bar and -55°C, while for ships with a capacity of around 10000 m3, transporting CO2 at -30°C and 15 bar is an attractive solution. Understanding the behaviour of CO2 with respect to the potential dry ice formation is a requirement to safely design and operate these CO2 cargo vessels, in particular in respect to loading/offloading operations. Furthermore, carbon dioxide contains impurities which nature and amount depend on the CO2 source. These impurities affect the phase diagram, the thermophysical properties and the kinetics of eventual dry ice formation, impacting the CO2 liquefaction process and transport.
Objective: The PhD project aims at identifying the most critical thermodynamic and kinetic aspects to be studied in order to allow the deployment of CO2 marine transportation on a large scale.
Research Areas:
The impact of impurities on the phase diagram and on the relevant thermophysical properties will be investigated experimentally and modelled with state-of-art equations of state
In addition, the less known kinetics of CO2 nucleation and growth will be investigated. Today, the knowledge on dry ice formation for CO2 pipelines and valves is still limited to only a few studies. Examination of the literature shows that even less work has been done on the kinetics of solid CO2 formation under conditions relevant to low temperature CO2 transport. This PhD project will utilise state-of the art experimental equipment, for measurements of phase changes and fluid phase behaviour. The experiments will fall into two main categories as follows:
- Induction time (and rate formation) vs subcooling. Time for solid formation as function of the subcooling. The objective is to investigate the statistical properties of the stochastic nature of solid carbon dioxide induction. The investigation involves the measurement of the induction time for CO2 solid formation over a wide range of pressures using a novel setup that enables the generation of large amounts of data.
- Rate of formation vs cooling rate (static and with mixing). This will be studied using two types of experimental setups: (a) a high pressure calorimeter will be used to study the formation and melting of solid CO2 in static conditions under different cooling or heating regimes (b) a high pressure autoclave equipped with magnetic mixer to investigate the effect of subcooling/cooling rate/temperature/ pressure on the kinetics of solid CO2 formation.
Using the new data, the PhD student is expected to develop or modify existing kinetic models (ice, hydrate...) to reproduce the experimental results and incorporate the resulting model in our existing software.
The results of this project will be published in high impact journals. This project could play a major role in strengthening the position of Heriot-Watt University and CTP Mines Paris PSL as Centres for research into CO2 transport and in addition, it will complement our multi-sponsored JIP on Thermophysical Properties of CO2-Rich Systems.

During the initial phases of CCS deployment in Europe, it is most likely that larger point sources will be decarbonised, and these may be located far apart. The cost to establish a CO2 transport network will therefore be relatively high. Several studies show that CO2 transport by marine vessels could be the most cost-efficient means of transportation in the initial phases of CCS deployment as well as being more flexible and scalable. The transport by marine vessels is carried out at different temperature and pressure conditions, depending on the size of the ship. For ships with a capacity higher than 20000 m3, CO2 is transported at 7 bar and -55°C, while for ships with a capacity of around 10000 m3, transporting CO2 at -30°C and 15 bar is an attractive solution. Understanding the behaviour of CO2 with respect to the potential dry ice formation is a requirement to safely design and operate these CO2 cargo vessels, in particular in respect to loading/offloading operations. Furthermore, carbon dioxide contains impurities which nature and amount depend on the CO2 source. These impurities affect the phase diagram, the thermophysical properties and the kinetics of eventual dry ice formation, impacting the CO2 liquefaction process and transport.
Objective: The PhD project aims at identifying the most critical thermodynamic and kinetic aspects to be studied in order to allow the deployment of CO2 marine transportation on a large scale.
Research Areas:
The impact of impurities on the phase diagram and on the relevant thermophysical properties will be investigated experimentally and modelled with state-of-art equations of state
In addition, the less known kinetics of CO2 nucleation and growth will be investigated. Today, the knowledge on dry ice formation for CO2 pipelines and valves is still limited to only a few studies. Examination of the literature shows that even less work has been done on the kinetics of solid CO2 formation under conditions relevant to low temperature CO2 transport. This PhD project will utilise state-of the art experimental equipment, for measurements of phase changes and fluid phase behaviour. The experiments will fall into two main categories as follows:
- Induction time (and rate formation) vs subcooling. Time for solid formation as function of the subcooling. The objective is to investigate the statistical properties of the stochastic nature of solid carbon dioxide induction. The investigation involves the measurement of the induction time for CO2 solid formation over a wide range of pressures using a novel setup that enables the generation of large amounts of data.
- Rate of formation vs cooling rate (static and with mixing). This will be studied using two types of experimental setups: (a) a high pressure calorimeter will be used to study the formation and melting of solid CO2 in static conditions under different cooling or heating regimes (b) a high pressure autoclave equipped with magnetic mixer to investigate the effect of subcooling/cooling rate/temperature/ pressure on the kinetics of solid CO2 formation.
Using the new data, the PhD student is expected to develop or modify existing kinetic models (ice, hydrate...) to reproduce the experimental results and incorporate the resulting model in our existing software.
The results of this project will be published in high impact journals. This project could play a major role in strengthening the position of Heriot-Watt University and CTP Mines Paris PSL as Centres for research into CO2 transport and in addition, it will complement our multi-sponsored JIP on Thermophysical Properties of CO2-Rich Systems.

During the initial phases of CCS deployment in Europe, it is most likely that larger point sources will be decarbonised, and these may be located far apart. The cost to establish a CO2 transport network will therefore be relatively high. Several studies show that CO2 transport by marine vessels could be the most cost-efficient means of transportation in the initial phases of CCS deployment as well as being more flexible and scalable. The transport by marine vessels is carried out at different temperature and pressure conditions, depending on the size of the ship. For ships with a capacity higher than 20000 m3, CO2 is transported at 7 bar and -55°C, while for ships with a capacity of around 10000 m3, transporting CO2 at -30°C and 15 bar is an attractive solution. Understanding the behaviour of CO2 with respect to the potential dry ice formation is a requirement to safely design and operate these CO2 cargo vessels, in particular in respect to loading/offloading operations. Furthermore, carbon dioxide contains impurities which nature and amount depend on the CO2 source. These impurities affect the phase diagram, the thermophysical properties and the kinetics of eventual dry ice formation, impacting the CO2 liquefaction process and transport.
Objective: The PhD project aims at identifying the most critical thermodynamic and kinetic aspects to be studied in order to allow the deployment of CO2 marine transportation on a large scale.

Thèse encadrée par Paolo Stringari (Ecole des Mines de Paris, PSL) et Antonin Chapoy (Université Hariot-Watt Edinbourg)

Candidates with Master degree in chemical engineering, energy engineering, or related disciplines are encouraged to apply.

Strong analytical, experimental, and computational skills are essential

Thermodynamics and phase diagrams

Candidates with Master degree in chemical engineering, energy engineering, or related disciplines are encouraged to apply.

Strong analytical, experimental, and computational skills are essential

Thermodynamics and phase diagrams

Rod Burgass, Antonin Chapoy, Dehydration requirements for CO2 and impure CO2 for ship transport, Fluid Phase Equilibria, Volume 572, 2023, 113830, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fluid.2023.113830.

Antonin Chapoy, Pezhman Ahmadi, Valdério de Oliveira Cavalcanti Filho, Prashant Jadhawar, Vapour-liquid equilibrium data for the carbon dioxide (CO2)+carbon monoxide (CO) system,The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics,
Volume 150, 2020, 106180, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jct.2020.106180.

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