Japanese industrial ceramics and technology producer NGK Corporation has installed and is now running its honeycomb structure ceramics for Direct Air Capture (DAC) at Avnos’ Project Brighton facility in New Jersey. 

For NGK, this deployment marks a significant milestone, as its DAC technology transitions from development-stage validation to operation in an active system under real-world conditions.  

To create this innovative technology, the company drew on ceramic honeycomb systems originally developed for automotive emissions-control applications, including HONEYCERAM™.

The final result is a solution that offers a large contact area between air and sorbent materials while maintaining a compact form factor, enabling efficient processing of large volumes of air. 

When integrated within DAC systems, the straight-channel honeycomb design allows air to flow with significantly lower pressure drop than conventional pellet-based options, helping reduce blower power requirements.

At project Brighton, NGK’s honeycomb structure ceramics have been incorporated into the facility’s solid-sorbent DAC process. This integration will serve to evaluate performance and durability under continuous operating conditions, generating knowledge for future product development and deployment. 

Officially launched by Avnos last month, Project Brighton is currently the largest operating Hybrid Direct Air Capture (HDAC™) facility. 

Located at Avnos’ Technology Development Center in Bridgewater, NJ, the facility is expected to capture up to 450 tons of atmospheric CO2 annually while producing ~475,000 gallons of clean water per year. The company is evaluating the use of the captured CO2 in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production.

After discussing the potential application of NGK’s ceramic honeycomb technology to solid-sorbent DAC systems, NGK and Avnos initiated a joint development program, working closely together to optimize NGK’s technology for the specific needs of Avnos’ DAC systems.

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