Introduction
The roles that fat & fatty oil have to play - separating things, repelling water, and providing lubrication - may not get a lot of attention, but these factors are vital in the manufacturing of high-quality goods. Working in the field of oleo- chemistry, we, the “small but global enterprise”, assist the manufacturing industries through techniques that put the principle that “oil and water don't mix” to work through emulsification and dispersion.
Originally founded as a wax and oil dealer, we produced lubricants for textile in the 1950's, and starting in the 1960s, we began applying pre-existing wax and surfactant technologies as well as our own special emulsification and dispersion technologies to expand into other fields.
Today, one of our company's most important products is Hidorin series, agent that is coated on the surface of the thermal paper used for store receipts, airplane tickets, and so on. This product utilizes hydrophobic substances in the form of adequate fine, micron meters particles for uniform dispersion in water, and it has become a globally standard product, used not only in Japan but in Europe and North America as well.
Another product of ours is Rikeizai, a release agent for poly-urethane foam that allows automotive parts such as seat foam and steering wheels to be formed in metal molds and then removed without defects. Urethane resins with adhesive properties can be removed cleanly from metal molds if Rikeizai is applied first. In order for Rikeizai to meet the manufacturing conditions for each process and production line, it had to be developed with a high level of formulation knowledge and dispersion technology - all based on the special expertise possessed by our company. In recent years, as Japan's environmental regulatory standards have grown stricter, we have kept up with the times and perfected water-based release agents using our emulsification and dispersion technologies. In Europe and North America, the transition from organic solvent-based release agents like gasoline that carry environmental and safety concerns to water-based ones has already taken place. In Japan and the rest of Asia as well, as awareness of environmental issues has grown, demand for water-based release agents has been increasing.
The technology involved in the transition to water-based chemicals, which relies on Chukyo Yushi's emulsifying and dispersing expertism, is an "environmentally-friendly technology" that can reduce the amount of solvents used while improving the safety of work environments and lowering the risk of fires. Going forward, we expect to see this technology applied in a wider variety of fields.
