| From October 2002, Mitsubishi Rayon Co.,Ltd
(President: Yoshiyuki Sumeragi, Head office: Tokyo) started
the sale of the SteraporeSUN, a new type of hollow fiber membrane
unit for use in wastewater treatment. Compared with models
already on the market, the SteraporeSUN is both much easier
to use and much more inexpensive, and it is therefore expected
to make a major contribution to the diffusion of wastewater
treatment facilities. |
|
| 1. Background to New Product
Development |
 |
The treatment of wastewater using a submerged
membrane bioreactor produces water of excellent quality, and
the method allows facilities to be made very compact. This
method is rapidly becoming popular both for industrial wastewater
treatment and household septic tanks. There are now wastewater
treatment facilities utilizing hollow fiber membranes manufactured
by Mitsubishi Rayon at over 700 sites in Japan, as well as
more than 300 locations in South Korea, China, and Hong Kong,
as well as in various countries of Europe and the Americas.
New facilities of this type are being built at a pace of around
100 per year.
Meanwhile, in research jointly conducted with the Japan Sewage
Works Agency, our subsidiary Mitsubishi Rayon Engineering Co., Ltd. has demonstrated
the effectiveness of the submerged membrane bioreactor method, utilizing Mitsubishi
Rayon's hollow fiber membranes, in the treatment of sewage. Work is now
proceeding on the development of system for the practical application of this
method.
The stage has thus already been set for the rapid spread of
this technology, but two final hurdles remained in the shape of high cost and
the difficulty of installation of the membrane units.
To help bring down unit production costs, in a joint venture
with Daiki Co., Ltd. ( President:Fumio ookame, Head office: Matsuyama,Shikoku)
we established Dalian Rayon Environmental Equipment Co., Ltd. in the city of
Dalian in northeast China in July 2002. The company is engaged in the manufacture
and sale of hollow fiber membrane products. Production has already got off to
a good start, and the firm is expected to act as a foothold for the Mitsubishi
Rayon Group's expansion in China and other East Asian countries.
To make the system easier to install, we have developed the
recently launched SteraporeSUN unit, which is the fruit of long and intense study.
This hollow fiber membrane unit is designed to reduce installation time dramatically
compared with existing products. As a result, installation procedures are radically
simpler than has been the norm up to now. In addition, every effort has been
made to reduce production costs: the water-collecting pipes are made of plastic,
the abovementioned hollow fiber membrane products are manufactured locally in
China, and the overall structure of the unit has been greatly simplified. In
the future, we aim to bring down the price of the membrane products to a level
where they can be frequently replaced without prejudice to the economical operation
of the unit.
Mitsubishi Rayon has positioned the SteraporeSUN as a long
term strategic product, and will be actively promoting its use both within Japan
and overseas in large-scale sewage and industrial wastewater treatment facilities.
We project sales of ¥500 million in the first year, rising to ¥2,000
million per annum five years from now. |
| 2. Features of the SteraporeSUN |
|
・The water-collecting pipes of the unit
form an L-shaped module, making attachment and removal easy
and greatly reducing the time required, thereby sharply lowering
maintenance costs.
・The water-collecting pipes are made of plastic and the total number of
components has been reduced, thereby further lowering costs. |
|
