DNV and Equinor develop software for carbon capture and storage

The software simulates accidental releases of CO₂ from storage facilities or leaks from pipelines, trucks or ships. CO₂ is usually transported and stored in liquid or supercritical state. It is much heavier than air and a release of concentrated CO₂ will therefore typically follow the contours of the terrain and accumulate in pits, valleys and lower-lying grounds.

KFX CO₂ will take complex thermodynamics and interaction between geometry and terrain into account, including dry-ice formation and sublimation of CO₂. “The development project, funded by Equinor, will bring these detailed simulation capabilities to KFX CO₂, supporting a new level of safety for handling captured CO₂”, says DNV’s Project Manager, Kjell Erik Rian.

“The rapid development of this technology is important not only for DNV and Equinor, but also for society,” says Kenneth Vareide, CEO of DNV’s business area Digital Solutions. “CCS is an important part of the transition to a low-carbon economy where safe operations are based on accurate, detailed and extensively validated simulations,” he says.

“To make the most cost-efficient design decisions without compromising on safety, it is necessary to have as detailed simulations as possible and DNV is committed to collaborate closely with customers in the areas of hydrogen safety, CO₂, ammonia and LNG, enabling the accelerated energy transition journey,” says Trond Evanger, Head of Section CFD Solutions.

DNV’s experience using advanced CFD simulation tools in safety analyses for full-scale CO₂ capture projects is based on many years of development work on the KFX software, which was acquired by DNV in 2017. Equinor has been a key partner in the development of the software for 25 years.