Abu Dhabi Steel Plant Takes on Carbon Capture Storage and Utilization

November 15, 2016 – Al Reyadah is the world’s first commercial carbon capture steel facility. The carbon dioxide (CO2) it captures will be pumped into oil reservoirs to enhance production. When the project is complete the steel plant will have a net zero carbon footprint removing the equivalent of 170,000 cars from roads annually.

Carbon capture storage and utilization, also known by the acronym CCUS, takes the capturing of CO2 and re-purposes it. In the case of Al Reyadah the CO2 produced through steel production will be captured by the world’s largest high pressure compressor. The compressed CO2 will then flow through a 43 kilometer (26.7 mile) pipeline to two oil fields. It will then be injected into the ground.

The steel plant lies on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi City. Its annual CO2 production target is to remove 800,000 tons of the gas. The injected CO2 replaces natural gas injection which has been the traditional method used in Abu Dhabi to improve production from mature oil fields. Once injected the CO2 will become permanently trapped in the reservoir as it displaces recovered oil. The natural gas savings will allow Abu Dhabi to use it for other industrial and domestic applications. The rate  of CO2 to natural gas recovered is 1:1.5 making the CCUS project economically viable.

Total cost of the project is $122 million U.S. Abu Dhabi has invested $2.7 billion to date in developing renewable energy and clean technologies and plans to bring its expertise to international customers. Similar CCUS installations around the world include pilot projects in China and Taiwan.