Strategic Plan

Technical-Scientific Plan 2021-2023

In the perspective of a gradual transition towards a future free from fossil fuels, SEASTAR aims to carry out study, research and technological innovation activities also in collaboration with the industry in the context of a sustainable use of hydrocarbons in the future low-carbon structure, with attention to the impact of applied research and technology transfer on industrial business. Topics of primary interest are oil & gas technologies and their applicability in unprecedented areas in the energy transition phase; the reuse of depleted fields and the conversion of end-of-life oil & gas plants and infrastructures - in particular, the platforms used for offshore production; advanced sensors for plants, surface facilities and environmental monitoring purposes.

Topics

The technical-scientific plan to fulfill the objectives of the energy transition in the national and international context and operate according to the constitutive purposes of the multidisciplinary Competence Center SEASTAR, includes the development of the following topics:

The storage of carbon dioxide and hydrogen

A concrete opportunity for the use of hydrogen as a fuel and for the large-scale reuse of the captured CO₂ together with hydrogen is represented by the depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs, adapting the knowledge already acquired and the technologies already developed in the oil & gas. The possibility of temporary storage in depleted reservoirs in fact plays a strategic role in energy supply both for the quantities involved and because it allows compensation between gas supply and demand. Along this line, existing plants - in particular offshore - which are operating on depleted fields can be converted into temporary storages of methane and hydrogen and / or CO₂ mixtures with a view to their reuse. Permanent storage of CO₂ underground, both in depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and in deep saline aquifers, to reduce CO₂ emissions into the atmosphere is a solution already tested on industrial pilot plants.

The conversion of offshore oil&gas platforms

The conversion of offshore oil&gas platforms, which have reached the end of their life due to the depletion of the fields to which they are connected, identifying different possible uses to support energy transition. This general purpose will be pursued through an investigation of the possibility of adapting technologies in support of: renewable energy sources; desalination of sea water (with the additional benefit of recovering rare elements, such as lithium, from sea water and production of renewable electricity through saline gradients, also known as blue energy or salinity gradient power); the hydrogen and CO₂ supply chain, through injection and production of CH₄ mixtures -H₂ and / or CO₂. The presence of large quantities of flammable gases (methane and hydrogen) will imply the need to carry out a careful risk assessment also using the available experimental infrastructure (mock-up of an offshore platform in a wind tunnel where the environmental conditions of interest can be reproduced).

The conversion of offshore oil&gas platforms

Development of technologies for innovative processes

Development of micro-sensors, technologies for miniaturized analysis, advanced optical techniques and innovative processing software, to be installed on Autonomous Underwater Vehicles - AUV, for environmental monitoring. The main objective is the continuous detection of physical parameters (e.g. salinity, temperature, density, transmittance, ...), chemical parameters (e.g. H, dissolved O2, ...) and contaminants (BTEX, aliphatic hydrocarbons, phenols, aromatic hydrocarbons , ...) in sea waters. The activities are developed in continuity with those already developed previously for the detection of heavy metals (chromium, copper, zinc and nickel), for which the legislation sets very low concentration limits.

Development of high TRL prototype systems

Development of high TRL prototype systems for the separation of CO₂, for its reduction to chemicals and fuels via inorganic or biological processes and for the separation of elements with high added value from waste and sea waters (European projects RECODE, ENGICOIN, SUNCOCHEM).

Development of high TRL prototype systems