R4Risk Principal Risk Consultant, Patrick Walker, gave an insightful presentation at the Chemeca 2024 and Hazards Australia conference, titled ‘Implementing Carbon Capture and Storage at Existing Gas Plants – Tackling the Challenges’. Patrick brings over 15 years of experience in process safety, giving him valuable insight into risk solutions across a wide variety of industries.
The session explored the significant change to the risk profile for a gas plant that could result from the introduction of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) facilities at the site. Proposed CCS operations would involve handling pure carbon dioxide in a liquid state, at high pressure and with a high throughput. The potential impacts of releases were modelled using DNV’s software, which caters for the unique properties of CO2 under these conditions. This analysis demonstrated the significant extent of the impact associated with CO2 released under these elevated conditions.
The vapour clouds formed following releases from CCS facilities were shown to potentially extend significant distances. These clouds would have the potential to expose large numbers of personnel (both outdoors and indoors) to toxic concentrations of CO2. Although familiar with flammable hazards, operators of existing gas plants are typically unfamiliar with toxic hazards. In the case of major CCS facilities, there is the potential for exposure of the on-site population to harmful CO2 concentrations, necessitating a revision of the emergency response plans and systems.
Patrick provided guidance on the necessary revisions to ensure the safety of emergency responders and on-site personnel, including those within occupied plant buildings. There was great response and participation from the audience, which led to thought-provoking discussions and insightful exchanges of ideas on enhancing safety protocols and risk management strategies.
