Kawasaki CO2 Capture: Key technology to capture CO2 | ANSWERS | Kawasaki's Solutions for the Future

Kawasaki’s
vision for
carbon neutrality

Carbon neutrality – The aim of reducing all greenhouse
gas emissions including CO₂ to net-zero.
Hydrogen – a gas that can be extracted from a variety of materials,
which emits no CO₂ when burned.
Kawasaki is working to reduce CO₂ emissions volumes by
utilizing hydrogen as power generation and mobility.

CO₂ in the atmosphere is increasing at a rate of 20 billion tons a year.*
For this reason, effective management of CO₂ is crucial for achieving carbon neutrality.
The question is how to efficiently capture, utilize, and store CO₂, in addition to simply
reducing emissions. Kawasaki offers a solution with its proprietary CO₂ capture technology, Kawasaki CO₂ Capture (KCC).

*Friendlingstein et.al(2022), Global Carbon Budget 2022, IEA(2021),
Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector, Met Office (2018),
How much CO₂ at 1.5°C and 2°C?, Our W orld in Data, CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Key technology for
carbon circulation society

Kawasaki uses its unique solid sorbent to capture CO₂ from exhaust gases produced by industrial plants, power plants, and garbage
incinerators, as well as CO₂ in the atmosphere, in an effective and
energy-efficient fashion. CO₂ solid sorbent, shaped like beads, is coated
with amine, a chemical agent that absorbs CO₂.

These magic beads are key to Kawasaki’s
CO₂ capture technology.

[KCC Kawasaki CO2 Capture] Kawasaki’s CO2 capture technology [PCC technology Post-Combustion Capture] Post-combustion capture technology Capturing CO2 from exhaust gases with a high CO2 concentration [DAC technology Direct Air Capture] Direct air capture technology Capturing CO2 from air with a low CO2 concentration

The beads use a porous material so that their large surface area can capture large amounts of CO₂ (the surface area of 1 gram of solid sorbent is equivalent to a tennis court)

Characteristics
and mechanism of
CO₂ solid sorbent

Characteristics

It efficiently absorbs CO₂ with the use of amine.
It is energy-efficient and can be used repeatedly because
it desorbs CO₂ at low temperatures.

[Magic beads that absorb CO2] [There are countless pores on the surface, similar to uneven, porous pumice stones] [Coating of amine on the sorbent surface Amine: Substance known for chemically adsorbing CO2]

Our proprietary amine desorbs CO₂ using low-pressure, low-temperature (e.g., 60℃) steam, allowing for energy-efficient and highly effective use of waste heat and solar power

[Mechanism] The diagram on the left shows the mechanism in which combustion exhaust gas, air, etc. are filtered through CO2 solid sorbent to efficiently capture CO2 and produce clean CO2 gas. The diagram on the right shows the mechanism in which low-temperature (e.g. 60°C) waste heat and solar heat are used to desorb CO2 with low-pressure steam. This method allows for repeated absorption and desorption of CO2 with low energy input.

Development of CO₂ capture technology
and related initiatives

1980s: KCC/Kawasaki CO₂ Capture
Kawasaki started developing CO₂ capture technology (KCC) with the aim of removing CO₂ from
exhaled air in enclosed spaces, such as submarines, spaceships,and airplanes.

2010s–: PCC/Post-combustion capture
Kawasaki began to develop PCC technology to address issues related to
global warming and environmental conservation.

2019–: DAC/Direct air capture
Kawasaki established its unique CO₂ capture technology using CO₂ solid sorbent coated with
amine and began working on the development of DAC technology.

DAC technology
for capturing CO₂ from
the atmosphere

Capturing CO₂ from air
with a low CO₂ concentration

Capturing CO₂ from air with a low CO₂ concentration

Direct air capture (DAC) is a technology that
captures CO₂ directly from the atmosphere.

Kawasaki is working with various
partners to put DAC into practical use.
What follows are examples of our endeavor.

[Demonstration project (1)] CO2 absorption in collaboration with Toyota

[Demonstration project (2)] CO2 utilization in collaboration with Kajima

PCC technology
for capturing CO₂ from exhaust gases

Directly capturing CO₂ from
exhaust gases with a high CO₂ concentration emitted
from factories such as thermal power plants

Kawasaki’s post-combustion capture (PCC)
technology enables the capture of CO₂ from exhaust gases with a high
CO₂ concentration, such as those from factories.

Kawasaki conducts demonstration tests at coal-fired power plants in
Japan and elsewhere.
The following are details of these demonstration tests.