SwRI Expands Flow Component Testing to Include Supercritical CO₂ Environments for CCUS

August 26, 2026 — Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has expanded its flow component research capabilities to include testing and computational modeling for carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) in realistic supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) environments. As the energy industry continues to invest in CCUS projects, more wells are being designed to handle injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) underground, where the fluid can reach a supercritical state, presenting an intense environment for downhole equipment.

sCO2 near-ambient temperatures has high density, rapidly changing fluid properties that can present a challenging environment for oil and gas and CCUS equipment, creating uncertainty about downhole device performance and durability. For example, interactions with sCO2 may affect the performance of inflow control devices, interval control valves, screens and other components that are crucial for managing injection or production rates, limiting unwanted water or gas in the well, and protecting the reservoir itself.

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SwRI has a long history as an industry leader in CO2 research and development, including CCUS and sCO2 power cycle applications. Staff members have conducted numerous U.S. Department of Energy and commercial projects advancing the efficiency, reliability and commercial readiness of sCO2 power cycle turbomachinery, heat exchangers, valves and systems. These projects have tested equipment with CO2 in gas, liquid, supercritical, multiphase and mixture configurations at flow rates over 200 lbm/s and pressures over 3700 psi.

During a recent internally funded project, SwRI created and utilized a test rig that can pump sCO2 through downhole tools at realistic temperature and pressure conditions.

“Previously, downhole tool testing was done with representative fluids, like water or air, but that doesn’t really match how supercritical CO2 behaves at depth,” said Jacqueline Manders, P.E., an assistant program manager in SwRI’s Thermofluids Section. “To ensure realistic well conditions, we built the capability to test with CO2 and observe downhole tool performance and reliability in that environment.”

Alongside the physical tests, SwRI has built computer models of the same setups, recreating the geometry of each tool under evaluation. The researchers used SwRI’s in-house high-performance computer cluster, which uses hundreds of processors, to run detailed 3D models of CO2 flow.

“The models include the relevant physics, such as CO2 property changes with pressure, temperature, flow turbulence and heat transfer,” said Dr. Raouf Tajik, a research engineer in SwRI’s Thermofluids Section. “After comparing the model’s predictions to the testing outcomes, we can run more scenarios under different conditions without having to do additional physical tests.”

SwRI conducts flow testing in its Gas-Oil Inflow Control Device Test Facility, evaluating equipment performance over a range of two-phase oil and gas flow conditions, and performs accreditation activities in its Flow Component Test Facility, qualifying safety-critical flow components used in oil and gas wells and offshore production systems.

These new test and simulation capabilities are now available to oil and gas and CCUS operators who need to qualify downhole tools for sCO2 service.