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An industrial chimney that neutralizes air pollution was honored with an award by the Membrane Structures Association of Japan (MSAJ). The “Super Light Stack” was a joint project by Taiyo Kogyo Corporation and Kanadevia Corporation that received the Environmental Contribution Award, highlighting its innovative application of membrane technology.
The project features the use of a steel-framed PTFE membrane coated with photocatalytic titanium dioxide (TiO2) that surrounds a steel flue pipe. The membrane serves as the exterior of a smokestack for a waste incineration power plant—replacing conventional concrete or precast cladding.
The TiO2 coating adds self-cleaning functionality while absorbing nitrogen compounds and sulfur oxides from the air. It’s highly resistant to dirt, thus reducing maintenance, and does not require painting. The fabric’s translucency could allow internal lighting, enabling a chimney to serve as a visual landmark or as a disaster-prevention base with community signage. The design flexibility of membrane materials enables more creative stack forms and architectural expression.
Due to the membrane’s light weight, the stack has excellent seismic resilience and shortens smokestack construction time by several months.
By expanding the use of membrane structures into the realm of vertical, high-heat industrial systems, this award-winning project can expand structural fabric markets not only to waste incineration plants but to thermal power plants and other large-scale industrial facilities.
This project was the second self-cleaning smokestack built. The first was completed in 2018 at a waste incineration plant in Kyoto Prefecture, winning the Good Design Award from the Japan Institute of Design Promotion that year.
The project began in 2011, with approximately two years dedicated to safety and performance verification.
Find out more about fabric architecture via Fabric Architecture magazine and the Fabric Structures Association.