Looking for a more sustainable future with CO2 & IGCs

The possibilities to use CO2 in a more sustainable, future world are very promising. However, using CO2 in industrial processes has already long been established. In recent decades, key research and development successes have meant that its use has been extended to a number of applications, such as when high temperatures and pressures are at play and CO2 reaches supercritical levels. CO2 applications nowadays range from its use in the hydrocarbon processing sector to the power generation industry, or even food production. In many of the underlying production processes compressors play an integral role, increasingly also integrally geared compressors (IGCs).

The fourth area is in capturing and storing CO2 released from the burning of conventional fossil fuels. The crux of this process is that after fossil-fuel combustion, the addition of a chemical solvent enables the removal of CO2, at which point it can be captured and stored. A more established process is to capture CO2 with oxyfuel and precombustion technologies. It is then injected at high pressure into secure underground reservoirs, such as depleted gas wells, for permanent storage.

The preferred option for CO2 processes has traditionally been to use an in-line centrifugal compressor driven by an electric motor, or a gas or steam turbine. There are, however, technological and process-led disadvantages, such as capex considerations, reduced flexibility, and their greater complexity to assemble and maintain. Atlas Copco Gas and Process integrally geared compressors address many of the process challenges presented by CO2.