Press Releases

2012

June 29, 2012

Kurita's "Recovery of Phosphoric Acid (H3PO4) System" Was Awarded the Director-General's Prize from the Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau of Japan' s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

Kurita Water Industries Ltd. (Head Office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; President: Toshiyuki Nakai) is pleased to announce that it was awarded the Director-General's Prize from the Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau of Japan' s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in the 38th Excellent Environmental Equipment Awards hosted by the Japan Society of Industrial Machinery Manufacturers (JSIM).

Kurita won the award for its "Recovery of Phosphoric Acid (H3PO4) System," which embodies the company's unique technologies for recycling resources. This system selectively recovers phosphoric acid, which is used in tremendous quantities in the process of manufacturing electronic devices, from wastewater and concentrates it to around 50%, which makes it reusable as a valuable resource. Kurita earned considerable acclaim for the technology development for this system and the performance of its on-site operation, which resulted in the award described.

In Japan, this system is operated at two customer factories in the electronic industry. Phosphoric acid recovered by the system is reused stably as a raw material of industrial chemicals which use phosphoric acid as the main raw material. The system also contributes to significant reduction of cost spent by the customers for external disposal of waste liquid containing phosphoric acid. Phosphoric acid is used for a broad array of manufacturing processes in the electronic industry, including production of liquid crystal, semiconductors, and capacitors, as well as plating. It is expected that Kurita's "Recovery of Phosphoric Acid (H3PO4) System" will be applied not only in Japan, but also in other countries around the world.

The Kurita Group will provide solutions for issues concerning on "water and the environment" through its products, technologies, and services, including the recovery of valuable resources enabled by the above system, chemical recycling in the processes of semiconductor and liquid crystal manufacturing, and of course wastewater reclamation systems.