Porthos: Decarbonizing Europe's largest industrial port

Speakers: 

Ozge BOLCAL: Capital Implementation Project Director, Air Liquide  

Tom EIKMANS: Senior Business Owner, Air Liquide 

Hans MEEUWSEN: Project Director Porthos 

Jeroen STEENS: Director Commercial Delivery, Port of Rotterdam 

The Porthos project is a public-private infrastructure initiative designed for CO2 reduction in the largest industrial port in Europe and to set a standard for other industrial hubs to follow. Air Liquide is one of four industrial launching customers for this project. Its goal: substantially reduce the site’s CO2 emissions thanks to an ambitious carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) solution.

The Project Scope

The Porthos CO2 carbon capture project aims to develop a carbon capture facility which will be integrated into the world-scale hydrogen production unit located in Rozenburg. This unit will be connected to the Porthos pipeline. We are expecting to be operational in 2026.

There is not very much benchmarking with the size and the complexity in the industry.

The Technology: CRYOCAP™

Air Liquide will capture its CO2 through its proprietary technology, CRYOCAP. In layman's terms, what the CRYOCAP technology encompasses is that the CO2 is separated from a gaseous stream using a cryogenic technique—a cooling technique, effectively.

Commitment to Decarbonization

CCS is an important technology that can help us in reducing our CO2 emissions. Within Air Liquide, we are not only building our own solutions for our own installations, but also we are helping our customers decarbonize by providing CCS technology and by participating and cooperating in that challenge to reduce the CO2.

The project will allow Air Liquide to approximately halve its emissions on this industrial site.

Infrastructure and Storage

The Porthos Consortium is building a large transport pipeline in the Port of Rotterdam, and we transport it over the North Sea to an existing well, which is now used for gas production, and we will convert it into a CO2 storage facility.

The pipeline behind me is the pipeline from Air Liquide where they will put in their captured CO2. We can store 2.5 million tons of CO2 in that store; in total around 37.5 million tons.

A Sustainable Future

Port of Rotterdam collaborates with companies and with the government to transform the Port of Rotterdam into a sustainable port with net-zero emissions regarding CO2. At the moment, we have about 80 projects we are carrying out.

For all those projects, infrastructure is key. With the start of the project with Porthos, we also start the development of a Northwest European Carbon Capture and Storage network. So for us, both for industrial decarbonization or for transport decarbonization, Air Liquide is a key player.

This infographic illustrates the process of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS).

At the top of the image, three boxes present the key figures:

• 2.5 Mt of CO₂ captured and transported each year.
• Up to 10 Mt of CO₂ transported each year.
• Up to 37 Mt of CO₂ sequestered.

CCS is a technological and logistical solution that involves several stages:

1. Capture and Compression

The CO2 contained in flue gases or process gases is first captured and purified directly at the industrial unit's production source. 

2. Transport

The CO2 is transported via pipeline to underground storage sites.

3. Sequestration

The CO2 is permanently sequestered in depleted natural gas fields or natural geological formations.

Cryocap™ H₂: How does it work?

When plants produce hydrogen from natural gas, they emit CO₂. Air Liquide captures CO₂ thanks to the proprietary technology Cryocap™ H2. 

How does it work? In order to capture the CO₂, pressure is increased and temperature is reduced (> 20 bar / -50°C) to liquify it and thus, make it easier to transport. 

How does Cryocap™ H2 work? Carbon dioxide - Hydrogen - Methane

• Compress: 1st condition for the CO₂ to become liquid
• Dry
• Cool: 2nd condition to obtain liquid CO₂
• Separate: Evacuation of CH4 and H2 that are more volatile. CH4 and H2 go through the membranes and are reinjected into the circuit.
• Transport: Once liquified, the CO₂ is ready to be transported to be sequestered in depleted natural gas fields or natural geological formations.