Public-Private-Academic Group to Produce Carbonate Monomer from CO2 Recovered from Municipal Waste

The city of Iizuka in Japan's Fukuoka Prefecture announced on May 18, 2012, that it, working with the Molecular Engineering Institute of Kinki University and private-sector companies, had conducted a verification test based on a low-carbon, closed-loop economy model. The test was carried out from October 2011 to March 2012 as a city-backed advanced technology development project.

The group of partners succeeded in recovering highly concentrated carbon dioxide (CO2) with a purity of about 70 percent from exhaust gas generated by the city's garbage treatment facility using a honeycomb adsorption method that separates heat, moisture, and impure gas. After further concentrating the recovered CO2, carbonate monomer, a substance useful for producing functional resins, was obtained. The recovered carbonate monomer has the potential to be commercialized for adhesive and coating material applications.

If successful, the research and development of separation and capture of CO2 from waste disposal sites as well as functional materials using the recovered CO2 will not only reduce CO2 emissions but also create a new market for environmentally friendly functional high-polymer materials, an important step toward realizing a low-carbon, closed-loop local economy.

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Posted: 2012/09/22 06:00:00 AM