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China’s First Million-Ton-Level CCUS Project Under Construction Author/Source: Sinochem News Network Date: July 5, 2021 Clicks: 138 On July 5, Sinopec announced the start of construction on China’s first million-ton-level CCUS project – the Qilu Petrochemical-Shengli Oilfield CCUS project. This project covers the three stages of carbon capture, utilization, and storage; once completed, it will become the largest CCUS integrated demonstration base in the country, providing a practical example for advancing the large-scale development of CCUS technologies. CCUS is one of the key technologies for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon capture, utilization, and storage is abbreviated as CCUS. As an important technical approach to addressing global climate change and controlling greenhouse gas emissions, CCUS involves capturing and purifying carbon dioxide emitted during production processes, and then reusing it or sequestering it in new production processes. The million-ton-scale CCUS project launched by Sinopec this time consists of carbon dioxide capture at Qilu Petrochemical and carbon dioxide flooding and sequestration at the Shengli Oilfield. Qilu Petrochemical’s carbon dioxide capture technology is used to transport CO2 to the Shengli Oil Field for oil displacement and sequestration, enabling an integrated approach that combines carbon dioxide capture, oil displacement, and sequestration – thereby trapping CO2 underground while displacing oil to the surface. Developing CCUS can directly reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Based on the calculations for the million-ton-scale CCUS projects at Qilu Petrochemical and Shengli Oilfield, it is possible to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1 million tons per year, which is equivalent to planting nearly 9 million trees or stopping nearly 600,000 economy cars from running for one year. As an essential technology pathway for carbon neutrality, CCUS possesses enormous potential for emission reduction, with broad prospects for industrial application. Research shows that in the future, China will need to rely on CCUS to offset more than 1 billion tons of carbon emissions, which can effectively promote the cleaner use of fossil fuels, the larger-scale utilization of clean energy, and lower carbon emissions in production processes. The million-ton CCUS project by Qilu Petrochemical and Shengli Oilfield is expected to be put into operation by the end of this year. In the carbon capture process, Qilu Petrochemical’s carbon dioxide recovery and purification system consists of a compression unit, a refrigeration unit, and a liquefaction and purification unit, along with supporting utility systems, to recover carbon dioxide from the exhaust gases of coal-based hydrogen production units; the purity of the recovered carbon dioxide reaches over 99% after purification ； In terms of carbon utilization and sequestration, Shengli Oilfield takes advantage of the fact that supercritical carbon dioxide can mix easily with crude oil. It plans to build 10 unattended gas injection stations at the Zhenglijiazhuang Oilfield to inject carbon dioxide into 73 nearby wells. Meanwhile, the oil and gas transportation systems utilize closed pipeline systems to further increase the rate of carbon dioxide sequestration. It is estimated that over the next 15 years, a total of 10.68 million tons of carbon dioxide can be injected, resulting in an increase in oil production of 2.965 million tons. At present, the preliminary preparation work for the project has been fully launched, with production expected to begin by the end of this year. Sinopec will intensify its efforts during the 14th Five-Year Plan period to promote the industrial development of CCUS. Research will be conducted on establishing a technology development center for carbon capture, utilization, and storage. Focus will be placed on advancing cutting-edge and prospective technologies such as CCUS + new energy, CCUS + hydrogen energy, and CCUS + biomass energy. Efforts will be intensified to apply technologies like the conversion of carbon dioxide into high-value chemicals and the mineralization of carbon dioxide. Breakthroughs will be sought in the core technologies and key equipment required for carbon capture, transportation, utilization, and storage. A technological innovation system for carbon dioxide utilization that encompasses technology development, engineering demonstrations, and industrialization will be established, thereby expanding the clean carbon sequestration industry chain and creating a hub for innovation in carbon reduction technologies. “During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Sinopec will utilize carbon dioxide generated by refining and chemical enterprises such as Nanhua Company. It aims to build additional million-ton-scale CCUS demonstration bases in its East China oil and gas fields and Jiangsu Oilfield, thereby promoting the industrial development of CCUS and paving the way for China to achieve its carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. It is reported that in 2020, Sinopec captured 1.3 million tons of carbon dioxide, with CCUS showing good performance. In 2012, the first CCUS project for domestic coal-fired power plants was launched at the Shengli Oilfield, giving rise to comprehensive technical methods and economic evaluation techniques for the integrated capture of carbon dioxide from flue gas, its use for oil enhancement, and its storage in large-scale coal-fired power plants. In 2015, Nanhua Company and East China Petroleum Bureau joined forces; the Liquid Carbon Company under East China Petroleum Bureau used a production-and-sales contracting model to capture the carbon dioxide emissions from Nanhua Company’s ammonia synthesis and coal-based hydrogen production facilities, utilizing this carbon dioxide for oilfield injection purposes. This marked the beginning of comprehensive utilization of carbon dioxide resources among upstream and downstream enterprises within Sinopec. In 2020, Sinopec captured approximately 1.3 million tons of carbon dioxide, of which 300,000 tons were used for oilfield flooding, achieving good results in improving crude oil recovery rates and reducing carbon emissions.