Daiho Industries Inc. (President: Yoshikazu Umeda) started in this summer to sell liquid nitrogen dripping devices made by Chart Industries, Inc. of U.S.A. The device is used to replace the head space (the upper space of container) with nitrogen by dripping LIN to seal cans, bottles and PET bottles in the productizing process of food, beverage and medical products. It functions to prevent the content inside from being oxidized by removing oxygen, which can realize the preservation of quality and extension of consumption deadline.

To describe the system briefly, the device consists of the vacuum insulation vessel to contain several liters or so, pressure flow-rate regulator and the operating board. The quantity of one drip is adjusted between 0.002 and 14 grams according to the volume to replace with nitrogen (the volume of head space) and a specific quantity of LIN drops by self-weight constantly into a can or a bottle filled with merchandize. Usually the device is utilized set into the filling/packaging line of each product. In addition the vacuum insulation vessel is an open container with the atmospheric working pressure.

The Chart products (“UltraDoser”, “IntroDoser”, etc.) which the company handles have great features in (1) the dripping speed, (2) the replaceable nozzle (3) a wide lineup of products. What distinguishing from competitors, the replacement of nozzle makes it possible to apply atomized dripping or spraying from a tilting position. There is a lineup of four types and eight models depending upon the performance and treating capacity of the operation board. Furthermore, the lineup includes a product with which one-time dripping can be done by just pressing the pedal for nitrogen replacement in case of small-quantity or small-lot product.

According to Daiho, as the large-scale plants of food or beverage introduce dripping devices made by the major can manufacturers, it is actually to develop the market as a matter of fact. Therefore, the company has a policy to proceed with selling the most inexpensive and easy step-type dripping devices to the small-lot producers of food and beverage like microbrews or local products who have not yet introduced the nitrogen replacement.

The price per unit ranges from a few million to 10 million yen. The sales target is more than 10 units per year for the time being. The Cryogenic Device Division said, “We estimate a great deal of potential demand for a dripping device. In addition, as the PLC containers are used to supply nitrogen in the step-type system, it seems to raise demand for PLC. As we are not particular about direct sales, we would like nationwide gas distributors to handle this product extensively.”