Sustainability Topics (Environment)

Spherical silica is used as a filler for semiconductor sealant. As the scope of semiconductor applications has expanded over the past few years, demands regarding the quality of spherical silica have been increasing. The traditional manufacturing method carries a risk of carbon contamination from fossil fuels, which impairs insulating performance and reduces the reliability of the semiconductor. In February 2022, Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation and Admatechs Company Limited developed a melting and spheroidizing technology using carbon-free ammonia-oxygen combustion to enable the production of high-quality spherical silica free from carbon contamination.

In April 2022, Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation successfully conducted a demonstration test with 100% hydrogen combustion to melt glass using a hydrogen-oxygen burner jointly developed with Nippon Electric Glass Co., Ltd. The jointly developed hydrogen-oxygen burner can switch the mix ratio of natural gas and hydrogen as needed. In the demonstration test, it was confirmed that the same melting capability could be obtained with either combustion fueled using 100% hydrogen, or a mixture of both natural gas and hydrogen, or only natural gas. This enables a significant reduction of CO₂ emissions from melting furnaces.

Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation is working to develop an oxygen burner that can efficiently increase the temperature inside a furnace. The company’s product lineup includes SCOPE-Jet^®, a burner developed to reduce the rate of power consumption and increase productivity for the electric arc furnace steelmaking industry, which consumes large amounts of electric power, by reducing production time through a higher burner flame temperature created with oxygen. In March 2021, the company developed the new SCOPE-Jet® SCAN, which combines oxygen applications (gas-using equipment and technology) and a laser gas analyzer unit. SCOPE-Jet^® SCAN uses real-time analysis values to control the feed amounts of oxygen, fuel, and carbon, increasing the efficiency of oxygen usage, which is also expected to reduce CO₂ emissions. Going forward, the system will be introduced mainly into electric arc furnaces, and the company will work on developing even wider applications.

Nippon Gases Euro-Holding S.L.U. (NGE)'s carbon dioxide business has a 19% share of the European market, andis the second largest in the region. The company operates three liquid carbon dioxide carrier vessels to connect its 12 carbon dioxide gas plants with markets in every region. The vessels can transport between 1,200–1,800 tonnes of liquid carbon dioxide with each voyage, carrying approximately 300,000 tonnes per year. Furthermore, they are also used as floating storage tanks during maintenance of the companies’ storage tanks or plants. Going forward, NGE will continue to accurately comprehend the current and future status of needs by following consumption trends in Europe overall from an overhead perspective as it continues to supply countries with carbon dioxide products as necessary

In December 2021, Nippon Gases Euro-Holding S.L.U. (NGE) announced a business alliance with Sarralle in the provision of engineering services regarding hydrogen burners, among others. Sarralle is headquartered in Spain, and is a leading company in engineering services in the steel industry and others. Under the alliance agreement, NGE will supply burner technologies and Sarralle will work to install them for end users. Hydrogen burners use hydrogen as an energy source instead of natural gas, and are considered an important element for achieving decarbonization of industry. Furthermore, NGE will collaborate with Sarralle to promote project opportunities for the use of hydrogen burners and other industrial gases for the steel and other industries, including provision of gas application technologies.

Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation cooperated with Taiheiyo Cement Corporation in the CO₂ liquefaction process for the “Development of Carbon Circulation Technology for the Cement Industry” project of NEDO. In February 2022, the company established a CO₂ liquefaction system at Taiheiyo Cement’s Kumagaya Plant. The system will recycle CO₂ emitted in the cement manufacturing process as a resource for reuse as raw material for cement and civil engineering material. Taiyo Nippon Sanso provided technical collaboration on a series of processes for liquefaction of captured CO₂ in a trial demonstration of separating and capturing CO₂ from cement kiln exhaust gas.

Nippon Ekitan Corporation is participating in a demonstration test for making effective use of CO₂ captured from coal-fired power plants jointly conducted with Osaki CoolGen Corporation (a company jointly established by Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (J-POWER) and The Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc.) and Sera Saien Co., Ltd. Osaki CoolGen aims to achieve innovative, low-carbon coal-fired thermal power generation by combining an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant with CO₂ separation and recovery. In the demonstration test, CO₂ from an IGCC power plant of Osaki CoolGen, is captured, liquefied, and transported and used to replace CO₂ that has been used for accelerating photosynthesis in a tomato greenhouse. It will contribute to realizing a carbon-neutral society by pursuing the possibilities for effective use of CO₂.

In this project, CO₂ was used to treat wastewater instead of a process using acid. The pharmaceutical company CSL Behring LLC used sulfuric acid for wastewater treatment, but the strong acid caused various corrosion issues for equipment. Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. responded to a request from CSL Behring to propose a wastewater treatment system using CO₂ and run a trial operation. The results far exceeded expectations, and led to a full implementation. As a result, the corrosion issues were completely resolved, while achieving adequate wastewater treatment function.

Nippon Sanso Holdings is also developing gas application technologies for reducing food loss. In Thailand, many local specialty goods such as durians and mangos are exported to other countries. By rapid freezing these specialty goods, using liquid nitrogen, they can now be preserved for long periods without changing their taste, texture, color, or other properties. Fresh produce such as fruit must be harvested within a limited period, and large amounts must be harvested at the same time. Rapid freezing technology using liquid nitrogen enables large quantities of produce to be processed without waste, helping to reduce food loss. Furthermore, gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide can be injected into packaging of small snacks and cut vegetables to extend their shelf lives, with various ripple effects such as reducing food loss, improving production planning, and expanding transportation range. Nippon Sanso Holdings will contribute to the resolution of various issues confronting the food industry through gas application technologies such as modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and liquid nitrogen freezing systems.

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In October 2021, Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation participated in an open innovation platform called the CulNet Consortium, hosted by IntegriCulture Inc. The consortium is a platform aiming to achieve mass production of cellderived products such as cultured meat. Companies with strengths in various areas, such as culture medium and culture tanks, participate in the platform to promote joint research. Taiyo Nippon Sanso participated with the goal of developing relevant gas application technologies, such as control of dissolved gas and atmospheric gas in the cell cultivation process.

In September 2021, Thermos K.K. concluded an “SDGs Partner” agreement with B.LEAGUE professional basketball team ALVARK TOKYO Co., Ltd. At the team’s home games during the 2021–2022 season, the two companies will collaborate on the “Personal Bottle Promotion Project,” calling on spectators to bring their own personal bottles to the games in an effort to reduce plastic waste from PET bottles at the venue.

In March 2022, Thermos K.K. entered a Cooperation Agreement for Realizing a Sustainable Society through Water with Kumamoto City. Kumamoto City is working to preserve its groundwater and to promote use of personal bottles and reduction of PET bottle waste as initiatives toward achieving the SDGs. Thermos K.K. entered the cooperation alliance with Kumamoto City in order to support these efforts. The company is promoting the use of personal bottles by city residents and producing and selling limited edition original design bottles to promote participation in groundwater preservation activities, as well as conducting a campaign to promote the use of personal bottles at Kumamoto City-organized events.