Toray to Build Mass-Production Facility for CO2 Separation Membrane Technology

Toray Industries will construct a pilot facility to establish a mass production facility for its CO₂ separation membrane technology, which may come online April 1, 2025. The company will perform demonstration tests, upscale prototypes, and validate production results in partnership with biogas and natural gas production developers, with a focus on practical applications for membrane components.

Project Details

Toray’s research laboratories already validated the high-separation performance and durability of its CO₂ separation membranes in impure gas environments. The work included:

• Refining hollow-fiber spinning and thin-layer coating technologies to establish a film production process for consistently stable membranes.
• Developing core technology for manufacturing membrane elements, bundling CO₂ separation membranes.
• Successfully demonstrated, over a full week, separation from biogas and exhaust gas emissions at the Tokai Plant.

CO₂ separation membrane; image credit: Toray Industries

The Tokai Plant demonstration confirmed applications in separating methane and nitrogen from CO₂, with the biogas sample containing more than 1,000 ppm of aromatic hydrocarbons to simulate natural gas. In addition to biogas and natural gas production applications, the CO₂ separation membrane technology will enhance efficiency in carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon capture and utilization.

Carbon-Capture Market

Natural gas-related CO₂ emissions are relatively low when burned, so its use as a stable energy source may continue to grow. Despite this, a low-carbon trend emerged in recent years: developing gas fields with low CO₂ concentrations. The trend increased demand for improved CO₂ separation and recovery technology to lower concentrations in high-emitting gas fields. In upcoming years, companies will develop technologies to efficiently separate and recover CO₂ from biogas derived from biomass, which is a mixture of methane and CO₂, and from waste gases containing nitrogen and CO₂.

The Global Trend

CCS is on the rise globally, as governments, industry, and communities grapple with the increasing urgency of addressing climate change. Data from the Global CCS Institute indicates a period of unprecedented growth, with the number and capacity of CCS facilities in the project pipeline at an all-time high. The Institute’s 2023 Global Status of CCS Report noted a 102% increase in CCS facilities in the pipeline compared to 2022: As of April 2024, there are 564 commercial CCS facilities in the project pipeline.

The Institute also noted accelerating momentum for CCS in industries beyond the lower-cost applications of gas processing, ethanol, and ammonia production. CCS is being integrated into industries such as cement, steel, chemical plants, power plants, and even carbon-removal technologies, such as direct air capture, bioenergy with CCS, and waste-to-energy plants.

Despite the robust growth in the CCS project pipeline, that growth is not distributed equally across the globe. Most CCS projects are being developed in advanced economies, with projects in developing economies far less common. More support is needed across the global south if climate targets are to be met.Success can only be achieved through active collaboration between the public and private sectors. Waiting for the market to deliver CCS without a strategy, cooperation between governments and project developers, or the necessary policy interventions will not achieve the scale of deployment required to meet climate goals.