Gas Compression
CO₂ Compression
CO₂ compression is a growing and technically demanding application — spanning industrial gas supply, chemical feedstock, enhanced oil recovery and the rapidly expanding carbon capture and storage sector. As CCS infrastructure scales up globally and CO₂ use as a chemical feedstock and EOR agent expands, the number of large-scale CO₂ compression installations is growing significantly, bringing with it increased demand for lubricants suited to CO₂’s specific behaviour under compression.
NEXT Lubricants supports CO₂ process gas compression with compressor lubricants developed for industrial CO₂ supply, EOR injection, urea production feedstock and carbon capture applications.
Compression process
CO₂ Process Gas Compression — Process, Applications & Compressor Role
Carbon dioxide compression as a process gas application is distinct from CO₂ refrigeration — the pressures are higher, the duties are longer, and CO₂ is being moved, injected or stored rather than used as a refrigerant. CO₂ compresses to dense-phase or supercritical conditions above 74 bar and -31°C, at which point its behaviour changes significantly from conventional gas compression — density increases sharply, compressibility decreases, and lubricant behaviour in contact with dense-phase CO₂ differs from gas-phase interaction. Most large-scale CO₂ compression duties operate above this threshold.
CO₂ dissolves readily into compressor lubricants under elevated operating pressures, reducing lubricant viscosity in the oil-CO₂ mixture within the compression system. The extent of this effect increases with operating pressure and is a key consideration in lubricant selection for high-pressure CO₂ duties. Captured CO₂ from industrial sources may also contain impurities — moisture, SOx, NOx, hydrogen or oxygen depending on the capture source — each influencing lubricant compatibility and the aggressiveness of the operating environment at the compressor.
Carbon Capture & Storage
Compressors raise CO₂ captured from power generation and industrial sources to the supercritical pressures required for pipeline transport to geological storage sites, operating continuously as critical path assets in CCS facilities.
Enhanced Oil Recovery
CO₂ is injected into hydrocarbon reservoirs to improve oil recovery, requiring compression to reservoir injection pressures that can exceed several hundred bar at the wellhead.
Urea & Chemical Feedstock
CO₂ recovered from ammonia and hydrogen production is compressed as a feedstock for urea synthesis and other chemical processes, including methanol production and emerging e-fuel and e-chemical applications.
Industrial CO₂ Supply
CO₂ for food and beverage carbonation, welding, medical applications and other industrial uses is compressed, liquefied and distributed in cylinders, bulk tanks and pipeline supply systems to end users across multiple sectors.
Direct Air Capture
Direct air capture facilities extract CO₂ from ambient air and compress it across multiple stages to storage or utilisation pressures. Inlet CO₂ concentration is very low and moisture and atmospheric contaminants are present at the compressor inlet depending on the capture technology used.
CO₂ Liquefaction
CO₂ is liquefied for bulk distribution to industrial and food and beverage end users, and for ship-based transport in emerging CCS export infrastructure. Liquefaction compression operates at the pressures and temperatures required to bring CO₂ to liquid phase, with specific demands on lubricant behaviour at sub-ambient low-side conditions.
Related Applications
Explore Other Gas Compression Applications
CO₂ compression is one part of a broader gas compression landscape. NEXT Lubricants also supports the following applications.
Carbon Capture & CCUS Infrastructure
Compression of captured CO₂ from power generation and industrial sources for pipeline transport and geological storage in carbon capture and storage projects.
Gas Gathering & Processing
Compression of associated gas and processed gas streams from wellhead collection through NGL extraction, dehydration and condensate stabilisation ahead of pipeline export.
Petrochemical Gas Compression
Process gas compression in petrochemical manufacturing where gas streams include reactive and specialty components under demanding operating conditions.
Hydrocarbon Gas Compression
Process gas compression in oil refining and gas processing across a range of hydrocarbon gas streams and operating conditions.