SimCCSᴾᴿᴼ

Core Features

SimCCSᴾᴿᴼ uses an integrated optimisation framework that combines emissions-source information, geographic data, engineering models and economic assumptions. It incorporates Carbon Solutions' specialised capture, transport and storage modelling tools to evaluate infrastructure as a connected system. Its main features include:

• CO₂ Source and Storage Matching: Identifies suitable connections between industrial emission sources and geological storage locations, considering capturable CO₂ volumes, capture costs, storage capacity and economic feasibility.

• Transportation Network Optimisation: Uses CostMAPᴾᴿᴼ to identify potential CO₂ pipeline corridors, considering terrain, population density, land ownership, sensitive environments and existing rights-of-way. It also evaluates transport options involving trucks, rail, barges and ships.

• Geological Storage Assessment: Integrates SCO₂Tᴾᴿᴼ to evaluate potential storage locations, including CO₂ injection rates, storage capacity, subsurface plume behaviour and sequestration costs. This helps identify suitable storage sites for proposed infrastructure networks.

• Carbon Capture Cost and Emissions Analysis: Incorporates CO₂NCORD to characterise industrial emission sources, estimate capturable CO₂ quantities and capture costs, and assess lifecycle emissions and potential air-quality benefits.

• Infrastructure Cost and Investment Optimisation: Evaluates costs across capture, transportation and storage infrastructure. Users can optimise networks to minimise costs, maximise revenues and carbon credits, and meet specified carbon management objectives.

• Scenario and Regional Planning: Supports infrastructure assessments ranging from individual source-to-storage connections to national CCS deployment scenarios. Users can compare network configurations, CO₂ volumes, infrastructure requirements and costs under different planning assumptions.

Closing Insights

SimCCSᴾᴿᴼ originated at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where it was developed by Dr Richard Middleton, now CEO and co-founder of Carbon Solutions LLC. An early version entered the public domain in January 2018, and the software subsequently received two R&D 100 Awards in 2019. Carbon Solutions has since expanded the commercial version to support infrastructure development and investment decisions.

The platform has been applied to projects for industrial, government and nonprofit clients. Its applications include the US Department of Energy-funded Carbon Utilization and Storage Partnership (CUSP) and a power plant development project involving CONSOL Energy, where SimCCSᴾᴿᴼ supports CO₂ infrastructure planning and the assessment of regional CCS hub opportunities.

For prospective users, an important consideration is the availability of complementary technical services. Carbon Solutions provides CCS infrastructure planning, pipeline feasibility assessments, geological storage screening and lifecycle assessments. These services allow organisations to combine software-based analysis with specialist engineering and research support. Prospective users should contact the company to discuss access and project requirements.