The Construction Kit for Modular Gas Plants: Sparkling with Excitement for CO2

Simple, yet flexible

The concept involves a basic frame with pre-installed components, piping, instrumentation and complete cabling right up to an own on-board remote I/O box. While bigger modules including compressors, absorbers or columns on pre-mounted frames can be delivered by truck to the construction site, smaller-sized units, the so-called skids, are prepared such that they are ready for transportation via standard containers. These include e.g., pumping stations or tank platforms.

This way, operators save not only installation time, but also on expensive tests at the construction site, explain the engineering experts. Yet no one should have to settle for a “one-size-fits-all” solution: The broad variety of production capacities can be implemented within the specified dimensions.

This is enabled by a modular design, which focuses on uniform interfaces, connections and standards independently of the configuration and performance capacity of the sets used.

The equipment simply grows within the basic framework provided by the skid platform: No matter whether the capacity is big or small, the modules look identical from the outside. Thus, the sky is the limit for the construction kit plant, as long as the finished module is still suited for transport by road.

Think Outside the Box

Plant manufacturing should also involve vendors, producers and customers from the very beginning. Otherwise, the compact design, which utilises the existing footprint to the maximum, could easily become a challenge for production, assembly and maintenance.

The adaptability of the construction kit concept is a big plus for CO₂ plants: Thus, at Linde, the absorber skid consists of a series of smaller modules, which represent different preparatory steps and phases. The total module can therefore be adapted to the most different of feed gas compositions while still significantly reducing the number of interfaces.