SK Inno "Ulsan Plant Carbon Dioxide Capture and Utilization to Increase by 300,000 Tons Annually Starting Next Year"

SK Innovation Ulsan CLX Petroleum Plant 1 Heavy Oil Upgrading (HOU) Facility Hydrogen Production Process

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] SK Innovation announced on the 2nd that it will increase the amount of carbon dioxide captured from the Ulsan Complex (CLX) process and sold to nearby factories. This is part of the carbon dioxide capture and utilization (CCU) project that contributes to reducing exhaust gas emissions.

Ulsan CLX is the company's main plant and has been conducting the CCU project since 2003. In the past, carbon dioxide generated from the hydrogen production process within Ulsan CLX was not separated but used as fuel together with other gases, and due to its non-combustible nature, it was released as is. Considering environmental issues, the company started a business to recover and sell it.

Low-oxygen hydrogen produced in the hydrogen manufacturing process of the Heavy Oil Upgrading (HOU) facility at Petroleum Plant 1 within Ulsan CLX is recovered as high-purity carbon dioxide gas through an absorption and separation process of the byproduct carbon dioxide in a separate recovery facility. Afterwards, it was supplied to sales destinations that utilize carbon dioxide such as semiconductor etching, welding, dry ice, and plant cultivation.

Based on this, starting next year, carbon dioxide will also be recovered from the hydrogen manufacturing process of Petroleum Plant 2 and supplied to nearby factories in Ulsan. The company expects the carbon dioxide sales business to increase to more than 300,000 tons annually. The company explained, "While responding to atmospheric environmental issues, we achieved the effect of improving the efficiency of the hydrogen manufacturing and refining process," and "We directly confirmed that both process efficiency and economic feasibility can be achieved."

Separately, the company is also promoting technology to capture and store carbon dioxide. Earlier in September, it signed an agreement with the Korea National Oil Corporation for the East Sea Gas Field CCS demonstration project, a national project. A feasibility assessment is being conducted targeting the hydrogen manufacturing process of Petroleum Plant 3 at Ulsan CLX. A demonstration model will be developed by 2023, and the demonstration project will be actively pursued from 2025.

Seo Kwan-hee, Head of Process Innovation at SK Energy, said, "Through Korea's first large-scale CCS demonstration project, we will seek additional business opportunities such as securing greenhouse gas emission rights, improving hydrogen plant efficiency, and hydrogen fuel cell power generation using blue hydrogen."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.