We know the Gulf states are dedicated to oil & gas production. As one Saudi Aramco executive famously stated, “We are the lowest cost producer, and the last barrel will come from the region.” At the same time, the region, and many other locales worldwide, is dedicated to deploying extensive carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects to counteract the climate change effects of oil & gas production. Region-wide, combined CCS efforts aim at 65 mtpa, with more than half coming from Saudi Arabia.

These macroeconomic goals comprise many individual sites and capture units, usually using an amine process. Under the surface, a whole new commercial community is developing to support trade in actual carbon dioxide and credits for same, mirroring trade in the underlying hydrocarbon products. A brief look at this community, and the technologies supporting it, is the topic of my column in Arabian Gulf Business Insight: How to Make Money in the Carbon Capture Value Chain.

I look at four typical scenarios of how money changes hands in this context:

• The company that pumps carbon dioxide into the ground will charge for the service.
• A site that operates a CCS unit will reduce the number of emissions permits it must buy.
• Where a cap-and-trade system is in operation, a site with a CCS unit can sell its surplus.
• A company with specific reduction goals must prove how much its CCS program has accomplished.

These four areas overlap and more than one could easily apply in a given situation. The burden of proof for supporting data is on the producer. Consequently, monitoring CCS processes and custody transfer can’t be a haphazard effort with a few instruments cobbled together. If money is changing hands, emissions credits are exchanged, or data is going into financial reports, the relevant parties will want auditable proof of what has transpired.

So how do companies prove the effectiveness of their systems?

Ultimately, the actual carbon dioxide tonnage must be determined. This calls for two types of instrumentation: an analyser to determine the chemical makeup, plus a flow metre capable of determining tonnage. Information collected from these and other instruments in the capture process must be integrated into a larger system capable of recording and storing historical data and analysing it so it can be presented suitably to satisfy both parties in the transaction, as well as regulators.

This is not as difficult as it sounds. If your company, as the seller, has thoroughly instrumented carbon capture units with effective automation, gathering the required data should be manageable. If your company isn’t sure about that, we can help. Emerson has a wide range of instrumentation ideal for these applications:

• Emerson’s Micro Motion Coriolis Mass Flow Meter family
• Rosemount X-STREAM Enhanced XEFD Continuous Gas Analyzer
• Emerson’s DeltaV Distributed Control System
• Smart Meter Verification
• Emerson’s Rosemount Wireless Permasense Corrosion and Erosion Monitoring System
• Emerson’s PipelineManager Software for Real-Time Transient Modeling (RTTM)

These tools can ensure effective control and monitoring of carbon capture, making it possible to document all transactions and satisfy the requirements of every permit transfer.

Companies are reducing their emissions by using CCS strategies, along with calculating the possible value of selling their excess reduction as a new income stream. Partnering with a single provider able to support all aspects of such a programme can shorten the development time and ensure successful project execution.

For more information, visit our Optimizing Carbon Capture pages at Emerson.com. You can also connect and interact with other engineers in the Oil & Gas Group at the Emerson Exchange 365 community.