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case studies

Tanker-Ready CO2 from Raw Field Gas

A naturally CO2-rich oil field had a problem most operators would call an opportunity in disguise — volcanic CO2 degassing alongside the hydrocarbons. Hydrexia delivered a fully integrated, automated, and relocatable system that captures the raw field gas, separates and dries the CO2, liquefies it, stores it, and loads it onto tankers for Enhanced Oil Recovery. The plant has been running since 2022 with no unplanned outages.
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The Challenge

A field full of CO2 — and no way to make money from it.

The operator was extracting hydrocarbons alongside a substantial stream of naturally occurring CO2 — gas that, untreated, would either vent or constrain operations. Meanwhile, the same field’s recovery curves were begging for CO2 injection to lift output.

The molecule was already there. The problem was getting it from raw, wet, hydrocarbon-mixed field gas to clean, liquefied, tanker-ready CO2 — without building a permanent plant on a field whose CO2 source will eventually decline.

That meant a system that could be installed quickly, run with minimal staff, and pack up and move when the geology changed.

Customer Pain Points

Raw gas with impurities

CO2 arrives wet, with hydrocarbons, NGLs, and impurities — useless until it’s separated, dried, and liquefied to spec.

Stranded equipment risk

A naturally degassing field will decline. A bolted-down plant becomes a stranded asset the day the volume drops.

Remote-site staffing and reliability

Field locations can’t carry large operating crews — and unplanned downtime stops both CO2 supply and the EOR program it feeds.

What Hydrexia Delivered

One Integrated, Automated, Relocatable Skid.

Hydrexia built a single end-to-end system that takes raw CO2-rich field gas in one end and loads tanker-ready liquid CO2 out the other — pumping, liquid/gas separation, molecular sieve dehydration, propane-cycle refrigeration, LCO2 storage, and a tanker filling station, all on a relocatable skid with integrated controls, power, and instrument air.

  1. Pumping & Liquid/Gas Separation — Raw field gas is split: hydrocarbon-rich gas streams off, NGLs are exported for a separate use case, and a wet CO2-and-hydrocarbon vapor stream moves on.
  2. Molecular Sieve Dehydration — Water is stripped from the CO2 stream so it can be liquefied without forming ice or hydrates.
  3. Refrigeration via Propane Cycle — The dry CO2 stream is cooled and liquefied to −23 °C at 2 MPa.
  4. LCO2 Separation, Storage & Tanker Filling — Liquefied CO₂ is separated from residual hydrocarbon-rich off-gas (exported), stored on site, and loaded directly into 27 MT tankers at the integrated filling station.
  5. Controls, Monitoring & Automation — 24/7 remote monitoring, fault recognition, and recovery logic let the plant run with just two people on a 12-hour shift.

Because the entire system sits on a relocatable skid, the operator avoids the stranded-asset risk of a permanent build — when this field’s CO2 source eventually declines, the plant can move with the geology.

The outcome

Running Since 2022 — No Unplanned Outages

Unplanned outages since 2022
0
LCO2 produced per 12-hour shift
MT
Tanker fills per day
0 -4
LCO2  per tanker
0 MT
Remote monitoring coverage
0 /7
Operators per 12-hour shift
0
A field that used to vent CO2 now ships it by the tanker, multiple times a day, into the same field’s Enhanced Oil Recovery program. Preventive maintenance only — every two months. Everything else just runs.
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"What used to vent now ships by the tankerload — and the skid can move when the field does."

Hydrexia