LNG

Toho Engineering Corp. of Japan is one of the companies said to have been short-listed for the new Petronet LNG terminal planned for Gopalpur Port in the East Coast state of Odisha.

JGC Holdings Corp., one of Japan’s leading LNG and energy engineering companies, said its domestic operating company JGC Japan Corp. has started technical development of carbon-dioxide capture applying unused cold energy from liquefied natural gas.

The company said the efforts are part of a joint project with utility Toho Gas Co., Nagoya University and the Tokai National Higher Education and Research System.

“The program was selected by Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) in May 2022 as a Green Innovation Fund project for development of technology for CO2 separation, capture and the like,” explained JGC.

JGC was contracted by Toho Gas as a participant since September 2022.

This development and demonstration is focused on Cryo-Captured technology, which applies unused LNG cold energy in CO2 capture from factory exhaust gas.

“The research and development builds on the work of Professor Koyo Norinaga of Nagoya University's Institute of Innovation for Future Society, whose innovative technique for applying unused LNG cold energy to capture CO2 from factory exhaust gas requires only a small amount of additional energy, which promises to reduce CO2 capture costs,” explained JGC.

Because natural gas is liquefied by cooling it to roughly -162°C, much cold energy is released when LNG is regasified at LNG receiving terminals.

Cold energy

“This underutilized cold energy has attracted attention as a potential energy source for generating power or electricity,” said JGC.

“By applying cryogenic expertise acquired from LNG plant/receiving terminal EPC operations, the JGC Group can ensure effective utilization of the unused LNG cold energy,” it stated.

Through test equipment design and other efforts, JGC said that it would also contribute in verifying the feasibility of practical adoption of this CO2 capture technology.

The company said that future contributions may include designing and scaling up pilot plants.

“Another decisive factor for participating in this development and demonstration is the fact that the JGC Group has positioned carbon neutrality as a key area over the medium to long term and considers CO2 capture an important technology,” it stated.

“In designing test equipment, we will consider specific details such as absorbent, equipment, and pressure control methods that suit facility structures and operating conditions based on relationships between nitrogen and other impurities, CO2 concentration and partial pressure,” it added.

JGC Japan said it would provide support in the conceptual design for this process and in optimization design for the various facilities involved.

“In this way, the JGC Group will continue working toward a carbon-neutral future through corporate and academic collaboration and partnerships to develop innovative environmental technologies,” said the company.