The 20^th GSC Awards are given to outstanding individuals or organizations who contribute to the promotion of green and sustainable chemistry (chemistry that is friendly to people and the environment and that supports the development of a sustainable society). The Encouragement Award is given to technologies whose contributions to the promotion of the GSC are expected to be significant in the future.

The "DDR-type Zeolite membrane for the Separation and Recovery of CO₂" developed by the JGC group and NGK represent an advance in efficiency and economy over the existing chemical adsorption and polymeric membrane technology and can be used for a wide range of applications. In order to commercialize this technology, we are aiming to utilize it for CO₂-EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery by CO₂), which increases crude oil production at the same time as achieving CO₂ sequestration. The Japan Oil, Gas, Metals and Minerals National Corporation (JOGMEC) is supporting the project. With their support, we are conducting a demonstration test of CO₂ separation and recovery from associated gas during crude oil production at an oil field in Texas, the United States.

The DDR-type zeolite membrane developed by NGK is one of the world's largest ceramic CO₂ separation membrane, and is capable of operating under high pressure and high CO₂ concentrations that cannot be handled by conventional membrane separation technologies. The DDR-type zeolite membrane is capable of precisely separating CO₂ even under severe conditions such as high pressure and high CO₂ concentration, which conventional membrane separation technologies cannot handle. In addition, the membrane area per element is large, and the durability is excellent, making it possible to reduce costs.

We believe that these characteristics of our technology have been highly evaluated and have led to our receiving the GSC Award for Encouragement on this occasion.

In the midst of global efforts to decarbonize, there is a growing need to reduce the environmental impact resulting from the extraction of fossil fuels, such as crude oil and natural gas, during production. For this purpose, efficient CO₂ capture, utilization, and storage technology (CCUS) is required. This process involves the separation and recovery of CO₂ from the gas accompanying the crude oil taken out of the ground by pressurizing the CO₂, using a DDR-type zeolite membrane. This not only increases the amount of crude oil obtained due to the decrease in the viscosity of the crude oil, but also allows some of the CO₂ to store in the ground and thus contribute to the prevention of global warming.

This technology has received attention not only from Japan but also from foreign companies. Recently, with the support of the Japan Foundation, we have been advancing a collaborative R&D program on this technology with a consortium DeepStar for offshore technology development, in which oil majors and other companies gather.

DDR-type zeolite membrane is designed to be used for CO₂ removal during natural gas treating as well as in the production of crude oil. The JGC Group regards this award as providing further impetus to continue its efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions through the widespread use of technologies for the separation, recovery, and effective use of CO₂. We will contribute to the realization of a decarbonized society by working to reduce CO₂ emissions through the diffusion of technologies for their effective and efficient use.

DDR-type Zeolite Membrane