The DOWA group promotes production of eco-products that considers environment throughout their life cycles from the production process to the disposal process.
In four fields of 1) Materials, 2) Parts and Components, 3) Products and 4) Services, we strive to develop and produce eco-products. Eco-products mean those products and services that are eco-friendly considering conservation of resources and environment at each stage of production, usage and disposal. We try to reduce environmental burden when we produce our products. We endeavor to offer parts and components contributing to energy saving of end products and reduction of environmental burden. We try to recycle metals after they are used as well as disposing of waste.
Recycling of heavy and rare metals with bryophytes
- Services
- Development of metal recycling technology with funariales (Joint study with German Institute of Physical and Chemical Research)
- Targets
- Heavy and rare metals (lead and gold, etc.)
- Environmental performance
- Conservation of resources and water environment/at recycling
- Feature
- Recycling technology to use completely new function of plants
Recycling of cerium from glass grinding materials
- Services and Materials
- Recycling of grinding materials for glass and lenses
- Targets
- Rare earth (cerium)
- Environmental performance
- Reduction of waste/at disposal Conservation of rare earth resources/at recycling
- Feature
- Approximately 90% of high recycling rate
Technology to remove radioactive cesium from incinerator fly ash
- Services
- Effective removal of water soluble cesium from incinerator fly ash. Development of materials and the separation process through joint study with the Jikei University
- Targets
- Incinerator fly ash generated by burning waste affected by a nuclear power plant accident
- Environmental performance
- Safe waste disposal/at disposal
- Feature
- Reduction of concentration of radioactive cesium from 3,800Bq*/kg to 1,500Bq/kg in the demonstration experiment
*Bq: Becquerel (Unit to indicate the amount of radioactivity)
Biodiesel fuel
- Services
- Recycling of diesel engine fuel (alternative fuel for light oil) from used cooking oil jointly with Okayama City
- Targets
- Used cooking oil from households, restaurants and food manufacturing factories
- Environmental performance
- Reduction of CO2 emission/in use
Reduction of waste/at disposal - Feature
- Okayama City uses the fuel for garbage trucks and buses.
Low lead zinc
- Materials
- High quality zinc ingot of 1ppm or less that is one tenth of conventional lead component
- Applications
- High safety for new applications for medical and food fields
- Environmental performance
- Improvement of safety/in use
Reduction of hazardous substances/at disposal - Feature
- Prevention of environmental contamination and risk to health by lead
Deep ultraviolet LED
- Parts
- LED that can output deep ultraviolet of 350 nm or less
- Applications
- Resin hardening, adhesion, drying, medical treatment, analysis, photocatalyst or water purification
- Environmental performance
- High efficiency, long life cycle and energy saving/in use
Reduction of hazardous substances (lead-free)/at disposal - Feature
- Wavelength (300nm or less) to realize disinfection and sterilization of water or material surface efficiently
Nitride-based HEMT structure epitaxial substrates
- Materials and Parts
- Materials for power semiconductor devices
- Applications
- Power supply of household electric appliances, high output products including servers and antennas for base stations of cell phones, hybrid cars and electric cards
- Environmental performance
- Energy saving/in use
- Feature
- Resistant to high voltage and with low electric resistance to reduce power loss to one thirds compared to conventional silicon-based substrates
MR* (laminate) LED
- Parts
- High output infra-red LED chips with a bonding technology that bonds a highly functionalized epitaxial thin film substrate consisting of several tens of crystalline layers in a nanometer order to the substrate with a metal reflection part.
- Applications
- Proximity sensors for smart phones
- Environmental performance
- Energy saving/in use
- Feature
-
Less power consumption by high output
*MR: Metal Reflection
Energy-saving heat treatment furnace
- Products
- Carburizing furnace for heat treatment of automobile parts
- Targets
- Automobile parts including engines and transmissions
- Environmental performance
- Energy saving and reduction of CO2 emission/in use
- Feature
- Approximately 50% reduction of CO2 emission from existing facilities
Silver powders for solar panels
- Materials
- Silver powders to cater for various particle shapes (spherical and flakes) and distribution of granularity
- Applications
- Sliver paste used for electrodes of photovoltaic cells (crystal, silicon-based photovoltaic cell)
- Environmental performance
- Improvement of functions of photovoltaic cells/in use
- Feature
- World top share of silver powder production for photovoltaic cells
Surface treatment, Cr-Dope-N
- Services
- Surface treatment of metal materials (physical vapor deposition)
- Targets
- Mold to form powder, plastic and rubber
- Environmental performance
- Energy saving, reduction of CO2 emission and reduction of hazardous substances/at production
Longer life of products/in use - Feature
- Safe without hazardous substances such as hexavalent chromium, cadmium and lead
