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Asahi Kasei Holds Grand Opening Ceremony for Biogas Purification System at Sewage Treatment Plant in Japan

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Kaori Ito, Mayor of Kurashiki City (fourth from right), and Osamu Matsuzaki, Senior Executive Officer of Asahi Kasei (fourth from left), were among the attendees of the grand opening ceremony (Photo: Business Wire)
Kaori Ito, Mayor of Kurashiki City (fourth from right), and Osamu Matsuzaki, Senior Executive Officer of Asahi Kasei (fourth from left), were among the attendees of the grand opening ceremony (Photo: Business Wire)
The biogas purification system (Photo: Business Wire)
The biogas purification system (Photo: Business Wire)
The flow of biogasification and biogas upgrading/purification to high-purity methane (Graphic: Business Wire)
The flow of biogasification and biogas upgrading/purification to high-purity methane (Graphic: Business Wire)
Biogasification flow at the Kojima Sewage Treatment Plant in Kurashiki City, and the demonstration trial using the System (Graphic: Business Wire)
Biogasification flow at the Kojima Sewage Treatment Plant in Kurashiki City, and the demonstration trial using the System (Graphic: Business Wire)

On-site demonstration trial on CO2 separation/recovery utilizing zeolites

TOKYO & NOVI, Mich. & DÜSSELDORF, Germany, February 25, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Asahi Kasei and Kurashiki City held a grand opening ceremony on February 4, 2025, for a biogas purification system (the System) in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The System uses Asahi Kasei’s CO2 separation/recovery technology utilizing zeolites installed at a sewage treatment plant. The goal of this collaboration is to evaluate and demonstrate the performance of the System.

Asahi Kasei and Kurashiki City concluded a comprehensive partnership agreement for the realization of carbon neutrality in society on September 15, 2022. Advancing the demonstration trial for decarbonization is one of the provisions of the partnership.

The System separates CO2 and methane from biogas using the optimum combination of a special zeolite as adsorbent that selectively adsorbs CO2 and a special pressure vacuum swing adsorption (PVSA) process technology. The zeolite is a crystalline aluminosilicate having regular channels (pores) controlled on the order of angstroms (ten-millionths of a millimeter) and cavities (voids) with a specific surface area exceeding several hundred square meters per gram. Asahi Kasei’s PVSA process technology, which separates specific gases by changes in pressure, enables the removal of CO2 from biogas to refine high-purity methane gas (biomethane) at a high recovery rate.

Biogas from sewage sludge, garbage, etc., consists of approximately 60% methane and 40% CO2. While the use of biogas as a carbon-neutral fuel is rapidly expanding, it is also a source of biomethane as a substitute for natural gas in Europe, the U.S., and other regions.1

In Kurashiki City, electricity is generated using biogas derived from sewage sludge at the Kojima Sewage Treatment Plant. The System will use a portion of this biogas for the demonstration trial. Furthermore, if the CO2 separated by this System is utilized and/or stored, it would achieve carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), which is carbon negative. In the demonstration trial, the separated methane is returned and used as fuel to generate electricity for effective utilization of the biogas.

The demonstration trial at the Kojima Sewage Treatment Plant began in February 2025. Asahi Kasei is responsible for the design, installation, and operation of the System, as well as evaluating and demonstrating its performance, while Kurashiki City supplies biogas generated from sewage sludge in addition to providing the site for the trial.