Gas molecules including hydrogen, biomethane, and oxygen are essential ingredients for alternative, low-carbon energy production. Because these gases don’t naturally occur in a form pure enough for direct use, they must first be separated; yet, their size and volatility makes doing so extremely difficult, energy-intense, and expensive.
Today’s industrial separation processes, including cryogenic processes, distillation, and solvent absorption, account for 15% of the world’s energy consumption. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy combustion and industrial processes accounted for 89% of energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2022. Membrane technology, which operates as molecular filters to separate gas molecules from one another, has the potential to reduce energy consumption, but widespread implementation remains limited due to product loss and high operating costs.
Osmoses has developed a patented novel membrane technology that purifies gas molecules with unprecedented flux and selectivity, meaning lower capital requirements and OPEX for customers, with a significantly smaller physical footprint than today’s traditional separation processes – all while reducing industrial energy consumption by up to 90%. Osmoses’ breakthrough family of polymer materials is capable of changing the paradigm around membranes for gas molecules, delivering high performance against conventional materials. In some applications involving hydrogen purification, Osmoses’ solution can deliver up to 40% higher product recoveries at a fraction of the cost and over 50% reduction in footprint. Osmoses can also power profitable hybrid separation system designs for low feed concentrations such as those in hydrogen de-blending and helium recovery.
“Solving the challenges of global decarbonisation and enabling the energy transition isn’t possible without changing how industry separates gases. Low-carbon hydrogen and biomethane are energy vectors that can help us achieve a cleaner future, but we need a more cost-effective, climate-friendly process for accessing these precious gas molecules,” said Francesco Maria Benedetti, Co-founder and CEO of Osmoses. “Osmoses’ membrane technology can reduce the impact of gas separations on the environment while also increasing the economic incentive for end-users and positively impact communities disproportionately affected by climate change. By beginning to commercialise our platform, we’ll enable more organisations across the globe to hit their net-zero goals and eliminate energy waste with our transformative molecular separation technology.”