No. 210: Technology to reuse effluent from the toner plant (December 10, 2010)

Ricoh developed the technology to purify effluent from the production process of toners for printers and complex machines. The newly-developed technology dissolves harmful organic substances using ozonic ultramicro bubbles. The company developed the technology in alliance with National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and REO Research Institute in Miyagi Prefecture. The technology utilizes the characteristic of an ultramicro bubble less than 50 micrometers in diameter that dissolves organic substances around it when it contacts to less than 100 nanometers and gets dissolved in water. Equipment that generates ozone with decomposition energy from the atmosphere to produce ultramicro bubbles will be built in the effluent treatment process. So far it is hard to dissolve and treat effluent generated in the toner plant using microorganisms, and organic substances are incinerated after being concentrated. The newly-developed technology changes organic substances into water and carbon dioxide, and separates them out into water as fine particles. Generated fine articles are harmless and can be used as cement materials. The newly-developed technology will make it possible to reuse permanently water used in the toner plant except the volume that decreases due to natural evaporation.