Dispersion of carbon dioxide released from buried high-pressure pipeline over complex terrain

To quantitatively assess the risks associated with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology, a better understanding of the dispersion characteristics of CO 2 released from a high-pressure pipeline is necessary. The dispersion process is complicated as CO 2 is denser than air, and the Joule-Thomson effect causes sharp drop of the temperature. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique was used to investigate the CO 2 dispersion. The CFD model is validated by simulating a full-size blasting test. The influence of topography and low temperature at the release source on the dispersion of CO 2 released from buried CO 2 pipelines over complex terrain types was studied. This study provides a viable method for the assessment of the risks associated with CCS.