Toray Industries, Inc., has made significant progress in a one-year trial using an all-carbon CO₂ and methane separation membrane at a biogas production facility in Osaka Prefecture. The company confirmed that this innovative technology reduces moisture removal costs by approximately 70% compared to conventional systems.
With rising energy shortages and global efforts to decarbonize, the demand for more efficient gas separation methods has increased. Toray’s all-carbon membranes are designed to resist chemicals and effectively separate gases, making them suitable for natural gas and biogas purification as well as CO₂ capture from industrial exhaust.
Biogas, produced through the fermentation of waste and feedstocks, needs impurities like moisture and CO₂ removed to be converted into biomethane. Traditional systems rely on polymer and zeolite membranes, which degrade when exposed to moisture. This degradation requires energy-intensive drying steps, increasing costs and limiting scalability.
Toray’s new membrane technology aims to overcome these challenges with a compact, lightweight solution that simplifies the purification process. The company plans to explore applications beyond biogas, including natural gas purification, industrial CO₂ capture, and advancing carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS).
Toray remains committed to research and development, striving to deliver innovative solutions that support environmental sustainability and a carbon-neutral economy. This development was supported by a project funded by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization.
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