Membrane technology from Air Products in Norway will capture CO2 in accordance with recent IMO ambitions.
April 10. 2018, nations meeting at the United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted an initial strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships. If the shipping industry were a country, it would be sixth in the list of carbon polluters, between Germany and Japan.
The IMO level of ambition is to reduce the total annual GHG emissions by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008, while, at the same time, pursuing efforts towards phasing them out entirely.
Since 2015, Air Products has successfully been testing CO2 gas capture. There are still issues to solve. But with a high level of certainty, country manager Tom Cantero in Air Products Norway will within a few years be launching a unique and compact membrane system without any chemicals for installation associated with ships exhaust system.
“Our technology is no less than a game changer”, Cantero says.
After initial and successful testing, the Norwegian state enterprise Gassnova has since 2017 supported further development of the technology named AMCO (Advanced Membranes for CO2 capture). The technology is a result of many years of research on CO2 capture by membranes at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Air Products and NTNU recently signed an exclusive patent licensing agreement to give Air Products the right to develop and commercialize this technology.
Air Products Norway has 40 years of experience within the shipping industry.
“In a cost effective manner, we will soon have clean and compact solutions ready as our contribution against further climate changes”, says Cantero.