Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is getting more attention from industrial facility owners for a simple reason: it can change the conversation around a facility’s carbon footprint.
For some operations, particularly those with a steady, concentrated stream of carbon dioxide, capturing CO₂ may help support lower-carbon fuel goals, create new market opportunities, and strengthen the facility’s long-term business case. But it takes more than installing new equipment beside an existing plant.
“People often think of CCS as one process or one piece of equipment,” says Lyle Schoellkopf, Sr. Technical Services Manager at McGough. “In reality, it is a chain of systems that all have to work together, from the point where CO₂ leaves the plant to wherever it is transported, used, or permanently stored.”
That broader view is where the real work begins.
Start with the CO₂ Stream
Some facilities are better suited to carbon capture than others. The best candidates tend to produce a large, steady CO₂ stream that is already fairly concentrated. Fermentation is a good example. During ethanol production, fermentation creates a high-purity CO₂ stream that can be conditioned and prepared for transport or storage more directly than a dilute exhaust stream.
Other industries may also be good candidates, including natural-gas processing, ammonia and fertilizer production, hydrogen, refining, and certain chemical processes.
Facilities with variable or dilute flue gas face a different challenge. In these exhaust streams, CO₂ is mixed with large amounts of air and other gases. Capturing CO₂ is still possible, but the added equipment and energy demand can make the economics challenging.
The CO₂ itself is only the first aspect of the facility to analyze; facilities also need enough room for new equipment, reliable utilities, and a realistic destination for the captured carbon dioxide.
“If there is no practical path for the CO₂ after capture, whether that is transportation, beneficial use, or permanent storage, the project is not complete,” Schoellkopf says.
The Work Around the Equipment Matters
It is easy to focus on the capture system because it is the most visible part of the project. Yet the supporting infrastructure often determines how quickly a project can move forward.
A typical project can involve new electrical service, substations, cooling or process utilities, compression and dehydration equipment, storage, loading systems, or a pipeline connection. It may also require foundations, site work, controls, safety systems, roads, and metering equipment.
Adequate power supply is an often-overlooked requirement for CCS projects. A carbon capture system can add a significant electrical load to an existing operation. Before selecting equipment, owners should understand both how much power is needed and whether the utility can deliver it on the project schedule.
That is more involved than checking available capacity; the answer may depend on a new feeder, transformer, or substation, as well as permitting, procurement, and construction. Those items can have their own lead times and should be part of the early conversations.
Keep the Plant Running
For an existing facility, the goal is to add carbon capture without creating unnecessary disruption to the process that already keeps the business financially viable.
That begins with clearly defining the connection points between the plant and the new system. Where does the existing process end? Where does the capture system take over? How will the system respond during startup, shutdown, maintenance, or an unexpected interruption?
The new carbon capture system has to connect to the existing plant. That work may require a brief shutdown. The plant team and contractor must agree on the timing and sequence before work begins so they can complete the connection quickly with minimal impact on production.
“The best approach is to plan for the full life of the system, not only for normal operation,” Schoellkopf says. “You need to account for startup, shutdown, bypasses, maintenance, and what happens when something upstream or downstream is unavailable.”
Review the Basics
Early project work begins at the facility. The team needs to understand the CO₂ stream, where equipment could be located, how much power it will require, and how the CO₂ could leave the site.
A site may have room for the equipment but need a utility upgrade before it can operate. Another may have adequate power but no nearby transportation or storage option. Finding those limits early gives owners a realistic view of what is possible at their site.
Bring the utility, construction manager, transport and storage providers, internal operations, environmental, and finance teams into the discussion early. The group needs to agree on the project’s costs, operating impacts, and responsibilities.
The CO₂ will pass through several hands between the plant and its final destination. Decide who owns it at each point, and agree on what happens if transport or storage is unavailable. These are business decisions as much as construction decisions, and they should be settled before the project moves into detailed engineering.
Experience Matters From the start
CCS projects bring together process work, utilities, construction, and plant operations. Permitting is among the considerations that should be part of early project planning. It can affect engineering, procurement, construction timing, and startup.
McGough brings experience from agricultural processing and industrial facilities, where construction must be planned around daily operations. Our role is to help owners turn an early concept into a plan that can be built, started up, and operated safely alongside the work already happening at the facility.
