Assessing Coriolis meter performance in multicomponent carbon dioxide-rich mixtures

Abstract

Accurate flow measurement plays a pivotal role in monitoring CO₂ flows across the CCS value chain. This not only bolsters the overall business model of the CCS industry, but also ensures adherence to environmental legislations and regulatory requirements. Unlike other industrial process fluids, such as water, oil & natural gas, it is unclear whether current commercially available metering technologies can meet the requisite accuracy levels, specifically the ±2.5 % recommended within the EU/UK European Trading Scheme for CO₂ mass transfer. Accordingly, the aim of this work was to gain a comprehensive understanding of CO₂ flow measurement within the context of CCS transport conditions. Firstly, GERG-2008 equation of state was implemented on REFPROP v10 to predict the optimal transport conditions for CO₂-rich mixtures and to understand the influence of non-condensable gas impurities in CCS flow operations. Then, a dedicated laboratory-scale gravimetric flow facility was designed and used to evaluate the performance of a Coriolis flow meter under gas, liquid, and supercritical flow conditions. The results indicate that the impurities have a relatively minor impact on the measurement performance of the meter, with maximum mean absolute measurement errors of 0.25 %, 0.12 %, and 0.28 % observed in gas, liquid, and supercritical CO₂ flow conditions, respectively. The findings support the use of Coriolis metering technology as a reliable option for CCS metering, underscoring its suitability for accurate measurements in single-phase CO₂ transport applications.