eSep Inc
Company Name:eSep Inc
Company Overview:
Membrane-based separation is one of the promising technologies for simplifying processes and reducing energy consumption drastically in future industries.
eSep Inc. will develop and offer membrane-based separation technology for easy, eco, and efficient separation. In particular, we are focusing on developing innovative carbon-neutral chemical processes that efficiently recycling chemicals and converting CO2 into useful chemicals.
Purpose of the exhibition:
We are participating in the etxhibition for the following goals; 1. To raise funds 2. To develop business partners and netrowks 3. To increase awarness in the Middle East market
Company Website: https://esep.kyoto/
Products
We have been developing separation membranes that combine durability for use in harsh conditions such as solvent environments and high temperatures where existing polymer-based separation membranes cannot be used, while also enabling nano-level separation. Although manufacturing was extremely challenging due to the high technical hurdles requiring ultra-precise control below 1 nm to achieve practical separation performance, after more than 10 years of research and development, we have successfully commercialized an innovative nano-ceramic membrane.
We have recently developed innovative carbon-neutral chemical processes that efficiently recycling organic solvent and converting CO2 into useful chemicals, such as carbon neutral (CN) methanol.
In the chemical industry, organic solvents are frequently used, but once used, they often become waste liquid containing high levels of water.
Discharging this waste liquid directly into the sewage system would cause serious environmental pollution, so in many cases, it is incinerated using energy, resulting in significant CO2 emissions.
Recycling instead of burning might seem like a better option.
However, water and organic solvents mix very well together, and existing separation technologies consume so much energy for separation and purification.
In principle, purification using separation membranes, similar to drinking water treatment, would be the most energy-efficient method.
However, existing membranes used for drinking water purification are made of polymer materials, which dissolve when used for recycling organic solvents, creating a significant challenge in practical applications.
We have developed membranes made of non-dissolving materials, such as ceramic materials for recycling more organic solvents and minimizing CO2 emissions.
Particularly in methanol synthesis using CO2 as a raw material, conventional technology has been inefficient because even when methanol is produced from CO2 and H2, it immediately decomposes.
By using our membrane separation technology to immediately extract the produced methanol from the reaction system, we can suppress its decomposition back into CO2 and hydrogen. As a result, we have successfully increased the methanol synthesis yield dramatically from below 20% to over 75%.
By utilizing this technology, methanol synthesis may become possible in the future under low-pressure conditions of less than 1 MPa, which would significantly simplify the chemical process.
If we can further improve the methanol yield to over 90%, it will become possible to install systems at on-site locations with renewable resources and convert them into methanol, which is easy to transport and store. This option will have a significant impact on energy issues in the future.
Methanol is liquid at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, and there is growing demand for it as it is expected to serve as a hydrogen carrier alternative to high-pressure hydrogen cylinders. The methanol-water solution as an energy carrier has advantages that hydrogen cylinder and batteries do not possess.
A safe and secure hydrogen society can be established by using hydrogen carriers that can be transported and stored at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, without the need to develop expensive hydrogen station infrastructure.
