An advanced technological and engineering platform for the design, construction and operation of safe and sustainable complex infrastructure and plants
Introducing Saipem
Saipem has always been oriented towards technological innovation and is currently committed, alongside its clients, on the frontline of the energy transition, with increasingly digitalised tools, technologies and processes that were devised from the offset with environmental sustainability in mind. It is listed on the Milan stock exchange and operates in over 70 countries around the world, with 32,000 employees from 130 different nationalities.
We are committed to working alongside our customers in order to transform their strategies and projects into competitive and sustainable infrastructures, plants and processes, accompany them on the path to energy transition, and reinforce their ability to design and supply solutions to reduce CO2 emissions in industrial sectors with a high carbon impact.
Saipem has adopted a dual approach to the energy transition: on the one hand Saipem is a technical partner of energy companies in complex projects, helping them towards the Net Zero targets; on the other hand, Saipem is a supplier of modular/scalable systems and solutions and services enabled by digitalisation, as well as an integrator of sustainable renewable systems and infrastructures.
Saipem is convinced that it is essential for sustainable development to find a balance between market and local needs, combining its industrial and social mission, and collaborating with institutional levels.
Saipem proposes solutions for both renewable sources and natural gas in order to reduce CO2 emissions in projects that use fossil fuels.
Saipem is in fact a global industrial unicum in its presence along the entire value chain of traditional energy sources (from the extraction – Upstream phase – to the treatment and transport of resources through land and sea pipelines, to the liquefaction and regasification of natural gas – phase Midstream – to plants also enabling circular economy solutions – Downstream phase), as well as in renewable sources and in the management of CO2 and hydrogen.
| Saipem is a global player in the energy industry and infrastructure | Saipem offers tailor-made solutions | Saipem accompanies the energy transition | Saipem operates sustainably |
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Saipem has engineering skills that bring high added value in the management of complex projects. |
Saipem accompanies clients throughout the project cycle, from the identification of needs to decommissioning. |
Saipem commitment: gas value chain, infrastructure, renewable energy, creation of hybrid and unconventional plants |
We prioritise the health and safety of people and operations, attention to environmental impact, and collaborations with local stakeholders. |
How Saipem works with CCS
CO2 Management: Saipem is able to manage the entire chain of CO2 capture and storage (CCS), thanks to its solid background in process technologies, transporting fluids over long distances via pipelines, and drilling both on land and at sea for CO2 reinjection.
Capture: Saipem has developed its CO2 Solutions proprietary technology, which lowers the cost threshold for the post-combustion capture of CO2, allowing its sequestration and reuse for obtaining new marketable products.
CO2 reuse: Saipem implements options for the industrial exploitation of CO2 capture, including the production of urea or, by hydrogenation with green hydrogen, methanol, natural gas alternatives (SNG), or other electronic fuels.
Transport of CO2: Saipem has historically been committed to this front.
CO2 storage: Solutions such as CCS have been pointed to as the future of drilling offshore, as wells are a key part of any CCS project. The wells will be drilled and completed for multiple purposes, such as exploring the suitability of geological formations, injecting CO2, and monitoring the behaviour and position of the injected CO2.
New hybrid configurations: fossil fuels together with renewables (on land and at sea).
Systems for improving energy efficiency of industrial plants
Identification of solutions with a minimum carbon footprint throughout the engineering and implementation phases of projects
Saipem has gained significant experience in these areas, including those listed below:
| CO2 CAPTURE | CO2 REUSE | CO2 TRANSPORT | CO2 STORAGE | ACID GAS RE-INJECTION FOR CO2 SEQUESTRATION |
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Our contribution to ACCSESS
Saipem will lead Sub-Project 1 (SP1) on CO2 capture piloting
Thanks to its 60 years of experience as an EPC contractor, Saipem will provide a transportable pilot plant able to capture about 2 tpd of CO2 by modifying an existing plant designed for an amine-based solvent to be suitable for an enzyme-accelerated potassium carbonate solution (CO2 Solutions by Saipem technology).
Another target of SP1 is to apply the CO2 Solutions by Saipem post-combustion technology together with a novel compact absorber developed by Prospin, based on replacing the conventional absorption column with a rotating packed bed absorber (RPB). The target is to achieve TRL7 for this application. The integration of the RPB will allow a more compact plant layout, less installation complexity, and the subsequent reduction of CAPEX costs.
Any hydrodynamic effects of the rotary absorber on the carbonic anhydrase enzyme will be evaluated as well.
Together with the host plant owners, Saipem will then operate the transportable pilot plant:
- to prove the long-term reliable performance of the CO2 Solutions by Saipem technology in a waste-to-energy plant,
- to benchmark the performances of the novel absorber (RPB) vs. the conventional absorber in a controlled environment, such as in Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM),
- to prove the long-term reliable performance of the integrated technology in two different industrial environments (pulp mill and cement production) collecting data that will be used to assess the performances in relation to aspects such as operating costs, and to scale up the novel absorber. Cost benefits in replacing a conventional absorber with the RPB absorber will then be assessed.
Saipem will also quantify:
- the effects that impurities at the ppm/ppb level in flue gas from waste-to-energy, pulp and paper, and cement plants may have on the performance and life of the carbonic anhydrase enzyme, and
- the cost benefits in replacing a conventional absorber with the RPB absorber for operation of the CO2 Solutions by Saipem technology.
Saipem will cooperate in Sub-Project 2 on CO2 capture, integration and storage
Based on the results that will be achieved on Saipem demonstration facilities, Saipem will support the ACCSESS project in identifying the most appropriate process conditions for integrating post-combustion CO2 capture in chemical pulp mills based on virgin wood feedstock, as well as paper mills using market pulp and/or recycled fibre feedstock.
Saipem will leverage its experience on feasibility studies defining the integration configurations for the CO2 Solutions by Saipem technology to reduce costs for post-combustion CO2 capture options in pulp and paper plants, cement kilns, waste-to-energy plants, and refineries, coupled with the RPB.
Saipem will cooperate in Sub-Project 3 (SP2) on CCUS chains and clusters
Thanks to its long experience in pipelines, Saipem will develop a model to minimise the cost of integrating multiple European industrial emission sources, thereby optimising the modelling for the possible CO2 transport using pipelines.
Moreover, Saipem will leverage its considerable experience in offshore installations to provide support in identifying feasible, safe and cost-efficient CO2 transport solutions using large-scale ships.
