Business Information

Business information

Energy Sector

Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Liquefied petroleum gas (LP gas, LPG) is a type of gas fuel (gaseous fuel) that is primarily composed of propane and butane and can be easily liquefied at room temperature by compression.

Applications

  • Raw material for adjusting the calorific value of city gas, etc.
  • A natural gas fuel – the main component is propane.
  • Heat source for home stoves, water heaters, commercial equipment, etc. In recent years, highly efficient gas appliances that use LP gas as fuel (SI sensor stoves, EcoJozu, Ecowill, and ENE-FARM) have become popular. To detect gas leaks, an odorant is used to give the appliance a rotten onion smell. Gas is supplied in cylinders, small-scale pipelines, simple gas (medium-scale pipelines), bulk, etc.
  • The advantages of gas are quick recovery in the event of a disaster and strong heating power, while the disadvantage is that it is generally more expensive than city gas.
  • For portable combustion appliances (such as portable stoves, generators, lighter gas, etc.) – The main component is butane.
  • LPG automobile fuel (autogas)
  • Fuel for heating burners in civil engineering works
  • Fuel for crematorium furnaces in some areas or emergency fuel
  • One of the fuels for thermal power generation

Light oil

Diesel fuel is a type of petroleum product produced from crude oil. It is primarily used as fuel for diesel engines. It is also called diesel fuel.

Applications

  • It is mainly used as fuel for diesel engines.
  • Diesel fuel for automobiles (especially large vehicles), railway vehicles, and ships accounts for 95% of light oil consumption in Japan, but it is also used as fuel for construction and agricultural machinery, for ceramics and steel, and as generator fuel for internal combustion power generation.
  • Because it has high output and good thermal efficiency (fuel economy), it is suitable for buses and trucks that have heavy loads, and it also has the advantage of being subject to lower taxes (such as diesel delivery tax) than gasoline.

Heavy oil

Heavy oil is the residual oil obtained from the bottom of the column by atmospheric distillation of crude oil, or a heavy petroleum product obtained by processing it. It is named after its higher boiling point and heavy viscosity than gasoline, kerosene, and diesel. However, since it is a type of oil, its specific gravity is lighter than water. In English, it is generally called fuel oil rather than heavy oil.

Heavy oil standards and quality

  • Heavy oil is classified into three types based on its kinetic viscosity: Type 1 (heavy oil A), Type 2 (heavy oil B) and Type 3 (heavy oil C).
  • Class 1 is further subdivided into No. 1 and No. 2 based on sulfur content. Class 3 is subdivided into No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 based on kinematic viscosity.
  • Heavy oil A is a mixture of 90% diesel and a small amount of residual oil.
  • Heavy oil B is a mixture of about half residual oil and half diesel (note that heavy oil B is hardly produced these days).
  • More than 90% of C heavy oil is residual oil.
  • Generally, heavy oil with a high carbon residue has a high viscosity. Most of the sulfur in heavy oil exists as organic sulfur.

A heavy oil: Mainly used for a heavy oil diesel equipment and a heavy oil combustion equipment

C heavy oil: Main uses are for internal combustion engines, boilers and various furnaces

Light oil: Mainly used for diesel vehicles and other light oil combustion appliances

Lubricants

Lubricating oil is oil used as a lubricant to efficiently lubricate the gears of machines, and sometimes also acts as a coolant. Engine oil is one example of this. Using this chemical property as an analogy, the word also refers to things or people that act as intermediaries to make things run smoothly.
Functions of lubricating oil lubricating oil has the following functions:

  • Reduced friction: Friction is reduced by forming an oil film between the surfaces.
  • Reduced wear: Prevents direct contact between surfaces, reducing wear.
  • Cooling: Absorbs frictional heat and prevents seizure.
  • Sealing: The oil film formed prevents substances from entering or leaving the outside.
  • Rust prevention: Prevents rust by adsorbing to metal surfaces.
  • Removal of foreign matter: Eliminates foreign matter from the outside. Especially in internal combustion engines, prevents soot from accumulating.

Mineral oil

Mineral oil is an oil obtained by refining petroleum.
More than 90% of lubricating oil is mineral oil. It is divided into paraffinic, naphthenic, etc. depending on its components. Generally, paraffin with 50 or more carbon atoms in the paraffin by ring analysis (ndM method) is called paraffinic, and naphthenic with 30 to 45 carbon atoms in the naphthenic.
Paraffinic is the most stable lubricating oil, followed by naphthenic.
It is inexpensive. There is a wide viscosity range, and mineral oils with various viscosities exist.
Impurities cannot be completely removed by refining. In general, due to these impurities, thermal stability is low and pour point is high. It solidifies at least at -20℃.
For this reason, the operating temperature range is narrower than synthetic oil without impurities.

Naphtha

Naphtha is a mixture of hydrocarbons with a boiling point range of approximately 30-180°C, obtained by distilling crude oil using an atmospheric distillation unit. It is also called
crude gasoline or straight-run gasoline. It is mainly composed of aromatic hydrocarbons with carbon numbers (molecular chain lengths) ranging from C8 to C10.

Heavy oil straight asphalt

(60-80, 80-100, 150-200)
Asphalt is the heaviest product that is produced when crude oil is refined.
When classified by production method, there is straight asphalt, which is produced by distillation, and blown asphalt, which is obtained by air oxidation.
Straight asphalt is produced by refining crude oil according to specifications.

Main application areas

  • Road paving materials
  • Waterproofing materials: Roofing sheets, asphalt mats, etc.
  • Asphalt paint, pigment, anti-rust paint, preservative
  • Electrical insulation for batteries etc.
  • Raw materials for vibration-damping, soundproofing and shock-absorbing materials
  • Electrode Carbon Materials

Quality Level

JIS K 2207 Straight asphalt

Features

  • Moderate fluidity and adhesiveness
  • Waterproof
  • It becomes a solid at low temperatures and a liquid at high temperatures, and its properties change depending on the temperature.
  • Properties change depending on loading time
  • Electrically insulating
  • It is cheaper than other polymer materials.

Ammonia

Applications

The chemical raw material
ammonia is an extremely important industrial substance because it is used as a raw material for basic chemicals such as nitric acid and nitrogen fertilizers such as ammonium sulfate. The annual global production volume (2010) was 160 million tons, of which 80% is said to be used for fertilizer.

Liquefied
ammonia is used as a solvent for the Birch reduction. It also has a large heat of vaporization (5.581 Kcal/moll), so it is used as a refrigerant for refrigerators and freezers, but in small devices, most have been replaced with fluorocarbons, except for absorption refrigerators. However, because it has a lower ozone depletion potential than newer refrigerants, it is being reconsidered for this purpose recently. It is also widely used to cool space development equipment such as artificial satellites.

Fuel for thermal power generation

The X-15 engine used ammonia as fuel.
As mentioned above, ammonia can burn depending on the conditions, and when burned, it does not produce carbon dioxide, a typical greenhouse gas. For this reason, technology development is being carried out to use ammonia as a fuel for thermal power generation. Methods such as co-firing it with pulverized coal and adjusting the amount and speed of fuel and air supply in gas turbine power generation are being researched.
As of 2020, a demonstration test is being conducted to use ammonia as fuel for a thermal power plant in Japan. In this test, when ammonia is produced from natural gas at a chemical plant in Saudi Arabia, an oil-producing country, the carbon dioxide emitted is separated and captured and used for EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) and CCS (Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage). For this reason, the ammonia used is called “blue ammonia” as a carbon-neutral fuel.

Mineral Resources

Coal

Coal is a general term for a substance that was formed when ancient (tens to hundreds of millions of years ago) plants were buried underground before they could completely decompose, and were then subjected to geothermal heat and pressure for a long period of time, causing them to change (calcify). From another perspective, it is also a plant fossil. It is used as a
fossil fuel for thermal power generation and steelmaking, but it emits large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, when burned.
For this reason, there is a demand to reduce the use of coal to curb global warming, but as of 2021, there is a global demand of 7.4 billion tons (estimated by the International Energy Agency), and there are many plans to develop new coal mines.

Aluminum raw materials (ingots)

The specific gravity is only 2.6-2.7. Aluminum alloy ingot is lightweight and has excellent corrosion resistance, and is widely used in the automotive industry, machinery, pneumatic tools, precision machinery, and communication machinery.

Iron Ore

Iron ore is primarily composed of iron oxide, and the most commonly used iron ores are hematite (Fe2O3), magnetite (Fe3O4), limonite (Fe2O3?nH2O), and iron sand, which is a granular form of magnetite.
Other iron ores include goethite (Foe (OH)), lepidocrocite (Foe (OH)), which has the same composition as goethite but is a distinct mineral, and siderite (FeCO3).

Silver Ore

Silver (English: silver, Latin: argentum) is an element with atomic number 47.
Its atomic symbol is Ag. It is a type of precious metal. Its specific gravity is 10.5.

Copper Ore

An element with atomic number 29. Its symbol is Cu.
In the periodic table, it is a transition metal in group 11, along with gold and silver.

Molybdenum

The element with atomic number 42. Its symbol is Mo. It is one of the chromium group elements.

Rhodium

The element with atomic number 45 and atomic symbol Rh is one of the platinum group elements.
It is also classified as a precious metal. It is a silver-white metal (transition metal), with a specific gravity of 12.5 (12.4) and a melting point of 1966.

Plastic materials

Thermoplastic Resins

  • General Purpose Plastics
  • General-purpose engineering plastics
  • Super engineering plastics (heat-resistant engineering plastics)
  • Thermoplastic Elastomer

Biodegradable plastics, thermoplastic resins

Agriculture

About the agricultural sector

Use of drones in the agricultural sector

  • 0Cleaning agricultural greenhouses (resin greenhouses and glass greenhouses) using drones
  • Solar panel cleaning
  • Spraying liquid extracted from fruit trees reduces pollution and the environmental impact
  • Due to dirt, the efficiency of the filter decreases by about 3% to 5% per year, so by applying this liquid, the filter is regenerated.
  • The special nozzle and newly developed battery enable continuous operation for long periods of time, and since it does not use a lithium battery, it is easier to handle and prevents fires.

Biodegradable agricultural mulch sheet

  • A technology that uses biodegradable plastic pellets and industrial waste to produce agricultural mulch sheets that decompose into the soil within three to six months.
  • Produce agricultural mulch sheets using biodegradable plastic pellets and discarded tofu Produce plastic bags using biodegradable plastic pellets and discarded tea leaves
  • Other waste applications

Reusing discarded rice husks, barley, wheat husks, and rice straw

  • Manufacturing vegetable silica using a newly developed machine
  • We make vegetable silica by utilizing discarded rice husks and other materials.
  • Use in the industrial and commercial fields
  • Additives to cosmetics and pharmaceuticals
  • Use as a food additive
  • Filter aids
  • Silica as an essential mineral

Gelling of rice and grains

  • The texture and hardness can be freely adjusted for everything from sweets to noodles and bread.
  • It is also attracting attention as a 100% plant-based, safe emulsifier and thickening material.
  • This is a new low-cost food ingredient made from high amylose rice.
  • The possibilities for application are endless, including school lunches, nursing care meals, and baby food.
  • A substitute for wheat flour, gluten-free and additive-free ingredient.
  • Provides safety and security as a 100% plant-based food ingredient.
  • You can freely adjust the taste, hardness, and texture.

Cultivation of biofuel and cattle fodder

  • Grass and soybean cultivation
  • Can be grown for 10 years as a continuous crop
  • Cultivation of Giant Miscues, Epicanthus, and Napier Grass
  • The above plants will be pelletized and used as biofuel.
  • The above crops are very important as roughage for cattle.
  • Soybeans are produced and are important as a source of edible oil, a meat substitute, and roughage for cattle. (Wheat bran)
  • It is also a suitable crop for producing silica.

High-yield crop production

High potato yield

  • Cultivation of Magellan potatoes
  • Giant Miscanthus (about 5 tons per hectare)
  • Cultivation of zero-sugar rice
  • A new sweet potato variety, “Karayutaka,” that grows quickly and is very high-yielding
  • Obtaining functional food labeling for hydroponic cultivation
  • Ginger cultivation
  • Production of fully matured compost
  • Cultivation of ripe papayas
  • Cultivating ripe mangoes
  • others

Renewable Energy Field

About renewable energy

Solar power generation

Solar power generation, also known as photovoltaic or solar photovoltaic (PV), is a method of generating electricity by directly converting sunlight into electricity using solar cells.

It is one way of utilizing solar energy, which is a renewable energy source.

Hydroelectric power

Hydroelectricity is a method of generating electricity by using the potential energy of water to turn a turbine using the power of falling or flowing water, which then drives a generator to produce electrical energy (generate electricity).

Small hydroelectric power generation

Biomass fuel

It can also refer to resources derived from living organisms. When viewed as a fuel, biomass is called biofuel (or eco-fuel), and using it to generate electricity is called biomass power generation.

Wood fuel This refers to thinning materials, firewood, wood pellets, etc.
Biofuels This refers to ethanol that is chemically produced from sugar cane, corn, etc.
Biogas This refers to methane gas produced by decomposing organic matter such as food waste and sludge using microorganisms.
Vegetable oil The most commonly used fuel is palm oil. Like wood fuel, it is burned as fuel without any extensive processing.