Nippon Ekitan Corporation completed a new base of technological developments after quite a while in the premises of its Kanto Regional Division located in Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, and started operation on April 1 of this year.

The new R&D base is equipped with a testing room to demonstrate blasting of dry ice as well as four laboratories to develop equipment, applications and supply technologies for the main products of LCO2 and dry ice handled by the company. The renovation cost for the new machinery and facilities amounted to just less than 100 million yen.

In the laboratories there are testing rooms to experiment products particularly for fumigation and insecticide gases. There are also a room to develop supply equipment for tunnel neutralizing process like the evaporator which is not applicable and a temperature testing room for products by dry ice.
In the dry ice blasting system there are two types, pellet dry washing and powder shot system by liquid carbon dioxide. It is said that the company is developing an automated system loading the blasting device on a robot arm.

Liquid carbon dioxide and dry ice are gases having a stable demand as they are popularly used in the household services as well as the primary industry other than the industrial field. Therefore they are enjoying a rare growth in the midst of sluggish mood in the industrial gas field excepting some like the semiconductor industry. Above all, there is a great latent demand in the promotion of photosynthesis of agricultural products and dry ice washing, but it is still indispensable to upgrade the current supply technology. Accomplishments of technological development utilizing the new base is much expected.