Technological advancement and industrialization path of Sinopec in carbon capture, utilization and storage, China

Abstract

Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology is an important means to effectively reduce carbon emissions from fossil energy combustion and industrial processes. With the crisis of climate change, CCUS has attracted increasing attention in the world. CCUS technology as developed rapidly in China is technically feasible for large-scale application in various industries. The R&D and demonstration of CCUS in China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) are summarized, including carbon capture, carbon transport, CO2 enhanced energy recovery (including oil, gas, and water, etc.), and comprehensive utilization of CO2. Based on the source-sink matching characteristics in China, two CCUS industrialization scenarios are proposed, namely, CO2-EOR, CO2-driven enhanced oil recovery using centralized carbon sinks in East China and CO2-EWR, CO2-driven enhanced water recovery (EWR) using centralized carbon sources from the coal chemical industry in West China. Finally, a CCUS industrialization path from Sinopec's perspective is suggested, using CO2-EOR as the major means and CO2-EWR, CO2-driven enhanced gas recovery (CO2-EGR) and other utilization methods as important supplementary means.