JPRS ID: 9730 JAPAN REPORT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: JPRS
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00850R000400010026-8
• Release Decision: RIF
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 29
• Document Creation Date: November 1, 2016
• Sequence Number: 26
• Content Type: REPORTS

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JPRS L/9730
13 May 1981
J~ an Re ort
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- CFOUO 31 /81)
,
Fg~$ FOREIGN BROADCAST INFORMATION SERVICE
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JPR5 L/9730.
13 May i9si ~
JAPAN REPORT
!~FOUO 31/81)
. CONT~NTS
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Cooperation With World's Steel Industries Promot.ed
(DIAMOISD'S INDUSTRIA, Apr 31) 1
Shipbuilding Industry Copes With New Energy Situation
(DIA1~i0ND' S INDUSTRIA, Apr 81) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 =
Soviets Want Japan To Join in,Ya:nburg Natural Gas Pipeline Project ~
(JAPtID? ~CCONOriIC JOUR'VAL, 21 Apr 81.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Matsushita I,Iil1 Emphasize Developing Factory Robots
~ (JAPAN ECOLVO~TIC JOUi~vAI~, 21 Apr 81) . . . e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Shipbuilders Are Entering Oil Platform Sector
(JAPI~N E~ONOMIC JOURNAL, 21 Apr 81) 16
Tsugami Provides Taiwan With Technology on Machine Tools
(JAPAN F.CONOMIC JOURNAL, 21 Apr 81) 17 -
Fujitsu To Fnter Market for Personal Computers
(JAPAN FCONOMIC JOURNAL, 21 Apr 81) 18
Semiconductor Firms lncrease Chip Sales by 30-50 Percent
(JAPAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL, 21 Apr 81) 19
Information Processing Booming in Country
(JAPAN ECONOrIIC .JOURNAL, 21 Apr 81) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 ~
Digital A+idio Disc Cou~lcil Disbands `
(JAPAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL, 21 Apr 81) 21
- Suntory Practicalizes Energy-Saving Fermentation
(JAPtL~V FCONOr1IC JOURNAL, 21 Apr 81) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 _
a - [IIT - ASIA 111 FOUO] _
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Joint Carbon Fiber Venture is Due
(JAPAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL, 21 Apr 81) 23
Japanese Industries' Reaction to America's Space Shuttle Succe ss '
(JAPAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL, 21 Apr 81) 24
Mitsubishi Electric Makes Power Laser Processing Machin~e " _
_ (JAPAN EC0130MIC JOURNAL, 21 Apr 81) 25
New Remote Temperature Measuring System Devised
(JAPAN EC~DNOMIC JOURNAL, 21 Apr 81)........,................... z6 -
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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
COOPERATION WITH WORLD'S STEEL INDUSTRIES PROMOTED
Tokyo DIAMOND'S INDUSTRIA in English Vol 11, No 4 Apr 81 pp 9-18
_ ~Text~
Many Requests
On lanuary 23, 1981, Nippon Kokan K.K. (MCIC) con-
cluded a technological cooperation agreement with Kaiser
- Steel Gorp. of the United States to modernize its main
production plant in Fontana, Calif. Kaiser Steel is the 8th
' largest integrated steel producer in the U.S., buth.assuffered
business setbacks due mainly to a delay in cnodernization '
efforts and sounded NKK on the possibility of its buying
~ the steeimaker. Having leamed that the deal would not
materialize, Kaiser Steel presented a modernization pro-
gram for the Fontana Plant to NKIC and asked for tech-
n~logical cooperation. Kaiser Steel will now strive to
reconstruct its business under the cooperation of NKK.
I~Iot only Kaiser Steel but also many other U.S. steel-
_ makers are far behind their Japan~se riv~ls in the
modemization of production facilities. Especially ducing
the past two to three years, many U.S. steelmakers have
sought technica! cooperation of the Japanese steel industry.
. United States Steel Corp., the top U.S. steelmaker,
iritroduced blast furnace renovation technology from
Nippon Steel and computerized control systems technology
- . for coke oven from NKK in the past. And on January 8,
' 1980, it concluded a contract to introduce industrial know-
how to raise the quality of large-diameter steel pipes and
their yield rate. The contract covers technical guidance in .
steel production, continuous casting, rolling and piping at
the plant in Bay~own, Texas.
� In June, 1980, Nippon Steel also concluded a compre-
hensive ten-year technology cooperation agreement with ~
Armco Steel Corp., the tt.rid largest steelmaker in the U.S.
And in September, it agreed to help Armco raise produc-
tivity and improve cost effectiveness at its plant in
Houston, Texas. In the s~rne month Kawasaki Steel Corp.
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signed a technology exchange agreement with the Sth -
largest li.S. ste:: producer, Republic Steel Corp.
In the past there had been many instances in which
Japanese steelmakers vNOUId provide specific technologies
for f~reign makers. However, the recent trend is, as
mentioned above, that U.S. steelr~nakers seek more exten-
sive technical guidance covering the operation of an entire
production plant or even that of the whole business. ~
Requests for technical guidance are coming into the
Japanese steel industry not only from the U.S. but also ~
many other countries. According to a survey by the Japan
Iron and Steel Federation, Japanese steelmakers concluded
contracts for technical cooperation with 62 firms in 25
- countries during 1980. Those firms include the world's
top ranking steelmakers, such as August Thyssen-H~itte of `
- West Germany, USINOR of France, Italsider of Italy and
ENSIDESA of Spain, in addition to the above-mentioned ~
U.S. firms.
The Japanese steel industry is also engaged in large-scale
, steel plant constn+ction projects overseas. Kawasaki Steel,
- for esample, leads a joint project with italy and Srazil to
build Tubarao Steel Works in Brazil. Nippon Steel is under- ' .
taking the construction of the Baoshan Steel Plant in China. -
Also among business inquiries received are technical ;
cooperation concering a steel casting and forging plant and ,
a large-diameter steel pipe production plant in Mexico, an ~
expansion of the Somisa Steel Mill in Argentina and the '
construction of a steel plant in Siberia.
The economic recession since the oil crisis of 1973 hit I
the Japa~~ese steel indusiry hard, and it tried to cover falls i
in domesc,c demand with exports. Japan's steel exports
~ increased from 25,~60,000 tons in 1973 to 33,120,000 ~
tons in 1974 and to 37,040,000 tons in 1976. The sharp
increase in exports caused trade frictions with importing ~
countries. In 1976, the share of Japanese steel products ~
' rose to 56% of total U.S. steel imports, and the U.S.
Govemment invoked a"trigger price system."
: Then the Japanese steel industry changed business -
_ strategy to increase eamings from overseas business rather ,
than trying to expand the volume of exports. . Japan's
steel exports in 1980 w~ere 30,400,000 tons, down 18~0
from the peak year of' 1976. But eamings from exports
totaled ~14,000 mi~.lion, up 17�'0 over~ 1976. Thus the
1973 oil crisis provid~'~ a chance to prove the real com- -
petitiveness of Japanese steel products to the world. This
induced many requests for technical cooperation from
abroad. Thus the Japanese steet industry is serving as a
"teacher" for the world's steel industry through wide- _
ranging technological exports, while continuing to export '
high-quality products to many parts of the world.
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Advanced Tec~no!ogy
The Japanese steel industry was devastated to a neazly ~
total desiruction by World War [I. Af4er the end of the
- war it started from scratch. Having little natural resources,
Japan needs to import almost all raw materials from
abroad. Tkiey include iron ore and coking coal. Therefore,
new steel mills were mostly built in coastal areas. Concer-
vation of energy and maceriais is a must !'or the Japanese
sceel industry. Cost reduction is also important. Demand
for steel products increased considerably as the Japanese
economy continued r3pid growth. 'This favorable situation
enabled steelmakers to build advanced large-scale produc-
tion fac;lities and also to raise productivity by new tech- _
- nologies of its own on the basis of imported advanced
industrial know-how and equipment.
Situated in the Ogishima area of the Keihin Industrial .
Area lying between I'okyo and Yokohama, Keihin Works of
MCK is a typical coastal steel plant equipped with the
, most advanced facilities. Keihin Works had been an
integrated steel plant since it was built in 1912. But NKK
~ built entirely new integrated steel production facilities
_ having two blast fumaces. Land reclamation work on the
' sea adjacent to the plant began in November, 1971, and
che new steel complex was comp(eted in July, 1979. NKK
- sank about ~ 1,000,000 million in the project. Thus the old
plant facilities were scrapped. The new complex is a model
of the most advanced steel plant that fully employs the
latest engineering techniques to raise productivity, save raw
_ materials and energy, and minimize pollution. -
Through this type of large-scale plant and equipment
investment, the Japanese steel industry has attained the
' world's highest productivity. The high-temperature, high- ,
pressure operacion in a large blast furnace has considerably
raised productivity in pig iron production. In Japan there .
are 15 blast fumaces having the inner volume of more than -
4,000 m3. Two of these have the innec volumes of more
than 5,000 m3. Twenty-nine af the blast fumaces opera'ing
in Japan are equipped with electric po~ver generators that
utilize the pressure at the top of the f~mace. Their power _
generation capacity totals 320,000 kW. The industry also
" employs a coke dry quench system in which nitrogen gas
is used to extinguish coke flames and thus utilizes the
waste heat produced in the process. It also utilizes waste
- heat produced not only by the coke oven but also by heat-
ing boilers and other facilities.
In Japan open hearth fun, :s completely disappeared
two years ago. They were rep~uced by more efficient con- .
- verters or electric furnaces. The number of continuous cast-
ing facilities began increasing during the latter h~i of the
_ 1960s, and they now account for 60.6% of the total steel
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- production facilities. The continuous casting systerr~ is far
more energy-efficient and has higher pr~ductivity than the
previous system in which ingot is removed from the cast
after cooling and it is heated again to be rolled. The hot
charge of slab is also being carried out. In the past the slab
was cooled first to clean up the surfac$ and then heated
up again for ralling. Now the surface treatment of slab is
made while it is hot, and the slab is sen; direcdy to the
heating fumace.
Thus many different kinds of technological advances
. altogether have contributed to raising the productivi:y of
~ steel plants in this country. Another contributing factor is
that Japanese workers have higher technological level than
- their counterparts in other countries. They are skillfully
operating various computerized systems introduced to the
_ steel industry. Another point to be noted is that for the
past 20 years workers of Japanese steel mills have establish-
ed a self-goveming system in which they are workin~ active-
ly for innovation of t}~eir workshops. Their activites extend
to areas not covered by the quality control a~:tivities of
ordinary industries. 'Ihis system, in fact, is knoarn overseas �
_ as "JK (Jishu Kanri) activity." In Japanese steel plants,
- employers and workers have made concerted effo~ts to save
materials and energy and raise productivity. Thus the
Jananese steel industry has gained strong intemational
competitive strength.
Oilless Operation
The prospering Japanese steel industry came to a major
tuming point when the frst oil crisis occurred at the end
uf 1973. ic was not just to cope with sagging demand
caused by recession. It had also to tackle skyrocketing raw
material and energy costs. In Japan, it was used to blow
heavy oil into large blast furnaces to speed iron ore reduction,
' raise the productivity and maintain its stable operatian.
During the 1960s all blast fumaces in Japan had tumed to
" burn heavy oil. But the price of heavy oil rose sharply, and
the increase in oil costs exceeded the surplus produced by
irecreased productivity.
During the 1960s steelmakers concentrated their effort
on raising productivity. Since the 1973 oil crisis, their
biggest task has been to lower production costs by energy
conservation. This is especially serious after the second
round of oil price increases in 1979. If the use of heavy �
- oil is suspended, coke consumptinn v~ill rise and produo-
tivity will decline. But even in the "oilless operation," fuel
- consumption is lower and productivity is higher than in
the past thanks to operational improvements, such as
oetter control on the blow�air temperature and the feeding ~
of raw material. ~
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Meanwhile, some blast fumaces have attained high
productivity b,y using powdered coal or tar instead of
heavy oil. Tar is a byproduct of the coke oven. The opera- _
tian of "oilless" blast fumaces would push up coke con-
sumption, and the production of coke oven gas would
increase. Therefore, an effective use of the byproduct ,
would result in reducing tota't energy consumption and
- costs. Of the 44 blast fumaces operating in Japan, the
_ number of non-oil buming p!ants increased to 30 at the
- end of 1980. Oil saving measures were also taken in areas
other than blast fumaces. Oil consumption to produce a
ton of crude steel dropped from 128 liters in 6sca1 1973
to 79 liters in ~scal 1979. The consumption for fiscal -
1980 is estimated to have fallen to 56 liters.
In the meantime, efforts were also made to increase the
productivity of continuous casting and other facilities.
_ Thus the Japanese steel industry has overcome difficulties
that arose in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis and has retain- .
ed a high productivity. In the "oilless opcration" of blast
fumances, the Japanese industry is developing technologies
- - the first of its kind in the world - ro use a coal-oil
' mixture (COM) or a tar-coal mixture (TCM) to replace oil.
Strong Feature _
[n crude steel production, Japan outpaced West . -
- Germany in 1963 to rank third in the world foUowing the
Soviet Union and the United States. In 1980, it ranked
second, surpassing the United States. The U.S. crude steel ~
- output in 1980 dropped by 18% from the previous year to
100,900,000 tons, reflecting the sag in business activity. -
Japan's output was 111,410,000 tons, a fall of only 0.3%. .
in the production of rolled steel products, Japan a,lready
~ surpassed the U.S. in 1975. It was because Japaz~'s yield
- rate was higher than that of the U.S. The output of hot _
rolled products in 1979 was a record 100,273,675 tons,
excluding reclaimed products - a slight increase from the
previous high of 100,201,240 tons in 1973. Crude steel
output in 1979 was below the record 119,321,596 tons of
i~~73, while the production of rolled products surpassed -
the previous record. This indicates nothing but that the
- yield rate of rotled products increased. _
Production cutbacks on crude steel began in mid-1980.
_ According to the estimate published by the Japan Iron and
Steel Federation at the end of 1980, crude steel production
for fiscal 1981 (April, 1981^~March, 1982) would total
105 million tons, down 2~'o from the final 1980 production
" estimate of 107 million tons. Since the oil crisis, the lapa-
_ nese steel industry has been striving for cost reduction,
putting up a target of making ends meet at 70�Io of capacity
pr~duction, and it is nearing the target.
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The Japanese steel industry now has such a large produc-
tion scale that it is affected not only by business activity
at I~ome but also by fluctuations of the world ecunomy.
= a?nd it may be true that the industry has attained enough
competitive strength to stand the changes. That's _
_ ~+hy many steelmakers overseas have come to seek tech- -
nological cooperation from the Japanese industry, which
- is willingly meeting them. This may also be a new way for
the Japanese iron and steel industry to survive the era of
_ energy conservation. -
COPYRIGHT: Diamond Lead Co.,;Ltdo 1981
CSO: 4120
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~ SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SHIPBUILDItdG INDUSTRY COPES jdITH NEW ENERGY SITUATION
~ Tokyo DIAMOND'S INDUSTRIA in English Vol 11, No 4 Apr 81 pp 14-18
~Text~
Energy-Saving Ships and Energy-Saving Equipment
If someone says, "Any energy-saving equipment sells well,"
no salesmen will deny it. Shipping companies will not deny
_ it, either. This is because the ratio of bunker oil costs to
the total costs of six leading Japanese shipping companies
went up from 6^9% in 1972 to 12^~15% between 1974
and 1978, and to 28% in 1980, or more than a quarter of
the total costs. 'Ihus the rising fuel costs began to adversely
_ affect shipowners' management.
Here is a good example of energy-saving vessels. They are
VLCCs (very lacge crude oil carriers), ULCCs (ultra large
crude oil carriers) and large container ships whose main
- engines have been switched from turbines to diesel engines
in an effort to save energy. The switch of main engines
began around 1978. At present, Ishikawajima-Harima
Heavy Industries has a backlog of orders for 7 units,
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 6 units, Kawasaki Heary
Industries and Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding 3 units
each and Hitachi Zosen (Shipbuilding & Engineering) 2
units. The backlog of orders for 21 units means that sl?ip-
~ builders are enjoying thriving business in this field. The cost
of work, which was around ~3,000 million per unit at the
beginning, has risen to 3f4,500 million per unit. This shows '
how shipowners are concentrating their energies on energy-
saving ships.
It is for this en~ne switch work that ship repair business
prospered in Japan in fiscal 1979 and 1980. This active
placing of orders for switching main en~nes might be
described as the first boom of energy-saving ships. Judging
from the present situation, the switch of main engines has
- passed its peak. The development of ships of energy-saving
type and energy-saving equipment, which take the place of
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the switching of engines, is already on a commercial basis
_ and is assuming an aspect of a"mini" boom. This is likely
to lead to "a second boam." _
Now, let us state systematically promising equipment _
related to the energy conservation for vesse~s.
Energy-saving for ships concerns propulsion efficiency,
power source and energy sourca. _
Propulsion Ef~ciency ~ -
Improving propulsion efficiency requires diminishing -
propulsion resistance. An effective means of reducing
propulsion resistance is to improve the shape or bow of the
ship. In concrete terms, the ship's bow is tumed into the
bulbous bow, as is done at shipyards. And, Hitachi Zosen ' '
has d~veloped the Panamax Mark II-type, which makes it
- possible to rotate a large-diameter propeller at a slow speed
by adopting a"!rlarina" type stem, thus saving energy.
= Another way to reduce propulsion resistance is to
diminish the viscosiry resistance caused by seaweeds and
shellfish which stick to the waterline and bottom of the
" ~ ship. It slows down navigation speed and increases the use ~
of fuel. An effective way to prevent the seaweeds and '
shellfish from sticlang to the ship is to use filth-proof
paint. Nippon Paint, Nippon Oil & Fats and other paint
, manufacturers are producing effective paint by using ~
cuprous oxide and a compound of triphenyl and tin. Since
the use of this paint reduces fuel costs by 1~ to 12%,
this method should not be made light of. i_
Next, the improvement of propulsion efficiency is realiz-
ed by improving the efficiency of the propeller, hull and ~
speed reduction system of the ship. The technologically-
established and best-selling products are propellers with _
- improved efficiency. The "duct propellers" of Mitsui
Engineering & Shipbuilding have been mounted on 90 ships ~ '
_ since the first product was attached to Exxon's "Esso
Copenhagen" (a 250,Oa0-dead-weight-ton tanker).'I'he com-
pany leads other manufactunrs in this field. Mitsubishi _
Heary Industries has developed what it calls the "reaction
fin," which is a radiant, fixed-wing-type device to be
- attached to fhe propeller at the stern. It is to be mounted
on a large coal carrier for Shinwa Kaiun Kaisha. Hitachi
Zosen also developed a device under the brand name of
"HZ Nozzle," which has been mou~~ted on the 170,000-
. dead-weight-ton ore/oil cazrier, iCimitsuru Maru, of ~ ~
Yamashita-Shinnihon Stearnship. It has already been proved
that the fuel costs are reduced by 5 to 10�l0.
At present, four shipbuilde~ - the above�mentioned
three and Kawasaki Heavy Industries - are trying to
- improve the efficiency of propellers. All of them have
achieved energy-saving by reducing the irregular flow of
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seawater around the propeller and making it possible to
- use engines of smaller horsepowcr to make the same speed
as before.
~ The remaining method of conserving energy is to
improve maneuverability and to make ship hull light. Under
the present situa4ion, however, only the improvement of
steering gear is likaly to produce some effects on energy
- saving and it is hoped that F~ogress will ba made in this
field in the future. (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has
- developed a system to maintain efficient steerirAg angles by
controllin~ the hull resistance with a microcomputer.
_ The s~ste~n is being tested on a tanker of Mobil Oi~. The
fuel-saving target is set at 20%a.)
Power Source
- More efficient power source is obtained by the improve-
_ ment of existing engines, development of engines of new
type (mainly compound cycle engines and highly-efficient
_ en~ines) and the rationalized use of energy in the ship
(mainly the recovery of discharged heat and the improve-
ment of cooling equipment and generatorsj.
At present, however, shipbuilders are concentrating their
efforts on the improvement of efficiency of existing engines
and are setting the goal of energy-saving on this point.
Manufacturers of marine di:sel engines not only in Japan
but other countries are staging a"hot war on fuel" over the
fuel-cost catio of 135 grams per horsepower and per hour
under the condition of navigation with optimum fuel costs.
Burmeister & Wain of Denmark - Hitachi Zosen and Mitsui
Engineering & Shipbuilding; Sulzer of Switzerland -
- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ishikawajima-Harima Heary
Industries (IHI), Hitachi Zosen and Sumitomo Heary
Industries; M.A.N. of West Germany - Mitsubishi Heary
Industries and Kawasaki iieavy Industries; and Pielstick of
France - IHI and Nippon Kokan. These are groups of com-
panies each in the relations of licensers and licensees.
They are competing for lowering the cost-fuel ratio jointly
or independently.
Concerning the Sulzer-type engine, IHI developed the �
"RLB series" of new energysaving, low-speed diesel engines
and attained the rat:a of 135.5 grams per horsepower and
per hour, while Sumitomo Heary Industries' 4RLA90-type
engine recorded the rado of 129.1 grams. As to the M.A.N.
(medium-speed) engine, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
improved a fuel-injection device and made it possible for its
18V52ISSA type to attain the ratio of 129 grams per
- horsepower and per hour. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries also
attained the ratio of the 130-gram level per horsepower and
- per hour with the UE engine it had developed. Conceming
the BBcW type engine, Hitachi Zosen attained the ratio of
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131 grams with ies engine of the "GFCA" series. The com-
pany is c?ow developing an ultra~nergy-saving, low-speed
diesel engiue, "GFCB," aimad at attaining the ratio of the
120-gram level,
F.netgy Soueces
T'he diversification of energy sources includes the .
utilization of altemative energy sources (powdered coal,
- coal-oil mixture and LNG) and the utilization of new
energy sources. However, it will take more time before the
_ use of altemative energy sources is technologically estab-
lished. The new energy sources include fuel batteries and
air turbine systems, but they are still at the stage of present-
ing ideas. Regarding the use of energy of winds, there is a
sail equipped moto; ship. Nippon Kokan built last year the
669-ton sail-equipped motor ship, Shin-Aitoku Maru, which i--
is said to save energy by 50%.
Shipbuilding companies will continue to Place emphasis
on technological dev~lopment for energy saving as long as ~
Japan has to buy C-grade heavy oil at the exorbitant price ~
of $220 per ton. Japanese ships (including ocean�going ~
vesseLs, coasters and ~shing boats) consume 34 rtullion '
kiloliters of oil a year. It is the supreme task for Japan to
save energy because this amount accounts for 12% of the
_ nation's total oil imports. !
i
LPG and LNG Carriers and Building Technology ~
i
~
LPG Carriers j
- As of 1980, the number of LPG carriers in the world
totaled ~28, or 5,900,000 cubic meters in tank volume. '
Of the total, those more tnan 20,000 cubic meters were 81,
which totaled 4,700,000 cubic meters in tank volume. _
Small coasters account for more than 80�Io of the total
number of LPG carriers. Japan built 237 LPG cazriers, or
2,300,000 cubic meters, accounting for 45% of the number
- of ships and 39% of the tank volume. The figures are by far
larger than those of second-ranked France (52 caniers and
1,400,000 cubic meters) and third-ranked Norway (56 �
carriers and 500,000 cubic meters).
The full-scale construction of LPG carriers in Japan
began in 1962, when Mitsubishi Heary Industries built
- one with the tank volume of 28,000 cubic meters for the
Philippines. About 20 years later, not only leading ship-
builders but medium-standing companies have the capacity
to build LPG tankers.
Unlike LNG carriers, LPG carriers have no problem of '
freezing temperatures. It might be said that all technologi-
cal problems related to the construction of LPG carriers ,
lU
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- were solved more than 10 years ago. Conceming the _
standardization of the carriers, those with tank volumes
ranging from 70,000 to R0,000 cubic meters have a:ready
been compkted. Carriers with the maximum tank volume
of 130,000 cubic meters are expected to be constructed
in the future. Hitachi Zosen built a carrier with the tank
volume of 100,'~'~? ~ubic meters for Esso Tankers in 1973,
- and engineers say that thcre is no technological problem in
the construction of large carriers. -
_ According to the data of the U.S. State Department, the
volume of LPG transportation in the world is estimated at =
- 38 million tons in ]985 and at 56 million tons in 1990.
(Japan's consumption of LPG in 1979 totaled 14 million
tons.) Calculated in terms of the tank volume of 70,000
cubic meters for a standard type carrier, the number of _
LPG carriers in 1990 will be 50 to 60 at the lowest limit
and 60 to 70 at the highest limit, even if the replacement of
ships is taken into account.
On the a~lnual average, theref~re, the number of carriers
that must b~� built is 5 to 7. So, the demand is not so large
~ as to make the use of building slipways tight. (There may
be a shortage of labor in the work to stick thin metal plates
to the inside of tanks.) [t can be said definitely that the _
shipbuilding companies are fully capable of building that
- number of LPG carriers.
LNG Carriers
The number of LNG carriers in the world now totals 55,
and ?3 others are under construction (including those still
_ being designed). France has built the largest number of
LNG .carriers. [t leads other countries by building 31
carriers, followed by such s~upbuilding countries as Norway
(seven carriers), and Sweden and Britain (four carriers . _
each).
Japan has not built any i.NG carrier yet while eight .
carriers are under construction. They are for a project on
LNG shipment from East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The ship-
owners will be Nippon Yusen, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisna and
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and the shipbuilding companies involv-
ed are Mitsubishi Heavy [ndustries, which is constructing
three LNG carriers, Kawasaki Heaw [ndustries with ~wo
(plus one being built for Gotaas-Larsen) and Mitsui
= Engineering & Shipbuilding with two.
The Japanese shipbuilders have been trying to build
ships with high value-added for more than 10 years. Now,
the era of high value-added LNG carrier construction has
begun with the building of the eight carriers now in the
shipyards. `
There will be many LNG development projects in
various parts of the woxld over the next 1~ years.l'hey will
involve Africa, centered on Algeria and Nigeria; Southeast
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~ Asia, mainly Indonesia; the Middle East, mainly Abu Dhabi;
Canada, Alaska and the Soviet Union. The volume of LNG
transportation in 1985 is estimated to be 2.5 times and the
volur~ in 1990 3 tirnes that of 1980, respectively. Based
on these estimates, about 50 I.NG carriers each with the
tank volume of 120,000 cubic meters will be needed in the
- wo rld.
The seven leading Japanese shipbuilding companies are
in technological tie-ups with foreign shipbuilders. They
include tie-ups between Gas Transport and six Japanese
shipbuilders, excluding Sumitomo Heavy Industries,
between Technigaz and six companies, excluding Kawasaki
_ Heavy Industries, and between Conch and three firms
(Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Sumitomo Heavy Industries
and Nippon Kokan). Besides, there are technological
tie-ups un the cunstruction of tanks of the BS semi-
membrane type (involving IHI), of the SENER independent
cylindrical tank type (Nippon Kokan) and of the ESSO
independent square tank type (Hitachi Zosen). Japanese
shipbuilders are constructing various types of carriers to
meet the cGents' needs.
Conceming technologies on the construction of LNG
carriers, all problems have been settled, although Japanese
shipbuilders have not yet launched carriers. And, in view of
- the present facilities and technological staffs, it might be
said the Japanese shipbuilders have full ?ntemational com-
petitiveness with regard to construction costs. Accordingly,
there is no major problem in the shipbuilders' preparedness
and technolo~ies.
The only problem is whether funds for the construction
uf carriers will be available on easy tenns since the
construction costs will amount ~30,000 million to
~40,000 million per carrier and there will be risks in
doing the business on a private basis.
In conclusion, the headache for shipbuilders may not
~ exist in their preparedness or technologies but in how to
avoid risks and how to deal with loans. The long-term
_ policy of Japanese shipbuilders - the construction of
vessels with high-value added - has been the building of
LNG carriers. ln this sense, this is the time when coopera-
- tion between the Govemment and private firms is most
needed co avoid risks involved and settle other related
problems.
Japan is known as the leading shipbuilding country
in the world. But, this does not hold good until Japan
is fully prepared for L.NG carrier construction and estab-
_ lishes a good record of construction.
COPYRIGHT: Diamond Lead Co., Ltd. 198Z
CSO: 4120
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SCIENCE AND TECIiiVOLOGY
SOVIETS WANT JAPAN TO JOIN IN YAMBURG NATURAL GAS PIPELINE PROJECT ~
_ Tokyo JAPAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL in English Vol 19 No 951, 21 Apr 81 p 1
[Text] The Soviet Union has made Informed sources said the
~nquiries to Hitachi, I.td. and gas booster stations inquired
Marubeni Corp. iur business about by the Soviet Union will
deals tofaling $1 billion to pur- each be equipped with six
chase gas booster stations tor large-scale gas turbines with a
- the Yamburg natural gas ca;~acity of 33,500 horsepower,
pipeline project in Western and each station is estimateci' to
Siberia, it ~vas learned cost about ~30 billion. The
recently. Soviet Union is expected to pur-
Informed sources said chase l0 stations at the maxi-
Hitachi and Marubeni will start mum or five at the minimum,
substantive talks on the deal in meaning that the deal will be ~
Moscow this May and are very worth a total ot ~ 150-300
likely to receive orders. billion.
Sources also speculated that Informed sources attributed
this biisiness deal will open the the reason for the inquiry to Hi-
way for the mere concrete talks tachi to the fact that the Soviets
to set up credit lines to the highly rate Hitachi's tech-
_ Soviet Union for the project. nology and past achievements
According to plans, sources with gas turbines, which are
_ said, a total of 42 gas booster considered to be the heart of
stations are to be set up along gas booster _ stations. The gas
the 5,000-kilumeter long pipe- turbine needed is a special
lines. These stations are double-axle type and only Hi-
deemed indispensahle for tachi produces such turbines in
maintaining the pressures ot Japan. This turbine was first
natural gas inside the pipelines developed by General Electric
at a certain level. Business Co. of the U.S. and, besides Hi-
talks to procw�e gas booster tachi, AEG-Telefunken of V1'est
stations came to lighi im- Germany, Nuovo Pignone
mediate~ly after the Soviet S.p.A. of Italy and a few others
- Union infurmed Japan recently aze engaged in its production.
that pipetines will be laid down Hitachi concluded an agree-
~long tlie suuthern route from ment with GE to jointly
Yamburg to U jga�cxi and that, produce those special gas
instead of the original plan tu turbines in 1966 and has
- reduce the gas pressure from
tW lo i~. two 1,420-millimeter-
diametei� pipelines will be laid
out side by side.
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? v~? V1a iv1lW VULd V1\lJl
already sold 50 oF them to rhe Soviet Union.
In ad3ition, large compressors, valves and control devices are needed for
gas booster stations and consequently, sources said, West Germany and Italy
are keenly interested in gettir_g orders for these products from the Soviet
Union, thereby intensifying the bidding competiton.
Sources also said the business talks on gas booster stations will lead to
' more concrete talks to set up credit lines to the Soviet Union, which were
delayed becau~e of the West'a economic sanctions against the Soviets -
imposed in the wake of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. But sources
_ warned that since the U.S, asked West Germany t~ reconsider giving credits -
to the lamb urg project and GE's technology is involved, the possibility
exists that the whole deal to procure gas booster stations will be
, scrapped if economic sanctions against the Soviets b~ the West are
strengthened in the future. ~
COPYRIGHT: 1981, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc.
CSO: 4120/217
_
~
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_ ~
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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
' IYIATSUSHITA WILL ETiPHASIZE DEVELt~PING FACTORY ROBOTS
Tokyo JAPAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL in English Vol 19 Na 951, 21 Apr 81 p 7
[Text] -
Matsushita Electric Indus- bly.
trial Co. will marshall the The position-setting robot will
entire staft of its technological be designed to work con-
ciivisions in an ambitious tinuously with a positioning
project to develop industrial capacity ot less than 1/100th -
robots not only for use at its millimeters. This robot will be
factories but for sales to out- engaged chietly in assembly of
siders. electronic parts and equip-
Japan's top electric~lec- ment.
tronic product maker plans to The adjustment robot, aimed
devise multi-purpose robots at all-out automat:on in videa _
capable of handling simple taperecorder production lines, _
- work and also complicated will adj~tst the faculties of
processing jobs. finished products so that they
The company has launched can function as originally de-
this project with the aim of signed.
e~~entually realizing all-out
plant auto?nation after probing
what rnbots its group enter-
prises need to attain higher
product ivity and more labor-
saving.
M1latsushita envisions em-
ploying the "Building Block" .
method, ~cith which it w�iil
combine a multitude of robot
units to produce m~echanical, �
relay-type robots and micro-
processor-controlled, intelli-
grnt robots in accordance with
~ the� needs of production lines. .
'1'his versatile system, con- -
~iciered suitable for the manu- -
facture ~~f home ele~tric appli-
ances with their frequent
model chan~es, I~as already
tx~cn employ~ed at the com-
pany's automated belt con-
~~e~�or lines.
'1'o be produced initially are
three kinds of robots for posi-
tiu~~ing, adjustmeut and assem-
COPYRIGHT: 1981, the Nihon Keizei Shimbun, Inc. -
CSO: 4120/217
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SCIENC~ AND TECI~IlVOLOGY
SHIPBUIT.DERS ARE ENTERING OIL PLATFORM SECTOR
y Tokyo JAPAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL in English Vo1 19 No 951, 21 Apr 81 p 8
[Text]
Shipbuilding companies in prescribed depth, is used most- Ishikawajima-Harima HI and
Japan have successively ad- ly in waters around 300 meters ~Wasaki HI, which have not
vanced into the semi-submer- d~P� yet received orders for plat-
- sible, self-propelled oil drilling At present, some 500 oil focros, are conducting negotia-
platform sector. drilling platforms are being tions with drilling ferms and
Up to now, Mitsubishi Heavy used in the world and about a ~sign consultants abroad on
Industries, Ltd. and biitsui one-fourth of them are said to cuoperation in designing and
Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. be of the semi-submersible, ~velopment of semi-submer-
were the only Japanese makers self-propelled type. sible, self-propelled oil drilling
turning out these oil drilling Major Japanese shipbuilders plaUorms. They are hoping to
platforms. thus have been actively start production of such plat-
Since late last year, however, engaged in winning orders for forms this year.
other shipbuilding firms, such such platforms which can be The major shipbuilders plan
as Hitachi Shipbuilding & made 6y utilizing shipbuilding to strengthen their marine ma-
Engineering Co., Nippon Kokan technology and large docks. chinery divisions as one of their
= K.K. and Sumitomo Heavy They succeeded in securing growth sectors in the future.
Industries, Ltd., succeeded in orders successi~ety since last
winning orders for such plat- year.
forms. Mitsubishi HI and Mitsui
Refle~:ting the sharp rise in E&.S won orders for two and
oil prices and uneasiness over four platforms, respectively.
supply, exploration of offshore Of the newcomer makers,
oil resources has spread to Hitachi E&S secured an order
deep-sea areas, resulting in a for a platfocm last November
sharp increase in demand for from an American oil drilling
semi-submersible, self-pro- company.
pelled oil drilling platforms. Hippon Kokan also obtained
_ lshikawajima-Harima Heavy an order for two platforms and
Industries Co. and Kawasaki Sumitomo Heavy Industries for
_ Heavy Industries, Ltd. thus one platform from the same
also are planning to produce American firm.
such platforms. Hitachi SdcE received an
As a result, competition order for two platforms from
among the shipbuilders to Liberia late last year. At
secure orders has intensified. present, the five Japanese
A semi-submersible, self-pro- ~ makers have orders for 12 plat-
pelled oil driliing platform, forms. ~
whose legs supporting the plat-
form can be submerged to a
COPYRIGHT: 1981, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc.
- CSO: 4120/217
16
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SC1~NC~; AND TECHNOLGGY
I TSUGAMI PF~OVIDES TAIWAN WITH TECHNOLOGY ON MACHINE T.OOLS
Tokyo JAPAN ECONOM~~ JOURNAL in English Vol 19 No 951, 21 Apr 81 p 8
[Text]
- Tsugami Corp. of Tokyo has =
- reached a basic agreement
with Taiwan's Tatung Eng
ineering Co. to provide the
latter with technological know-
~ how on the manufacture of
- machine tools.
The influential Taipei enter-
prise, which has been long
planning to branch out into the
machine tool field, will thas
produce and sell automatic
lathers and grinders with the
Tsugami expertise.
Tsugami will receive some
100 engineers from Tatung for
lechnical training at its Naga-
oka, Niigata Prefecture, plant, ' -
starting this Pall.
The license contr�act, to be
signed shortly, will be effective
for the next seven years. It will
allow the Taipei firm to sell its
lathes and grinders in Taiwan
on an exclusive basis and also to .
export them to 11 Asian coun-
tries, including the Philippines,
Indonesia, Singapore and
Malaysia.
COPYRIGHT: 1981, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc.
CSO: 4120/217
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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SEMICONTJUCTOR FIRMS I~i'CREASE CHIP SALES BY ~~J-50 PERCENT
Tokyo JAPAN ECONOMIC JOURI~AL in English V~1 19 No 951, 21 Apr 81 p 9
~ [Text ] lapan's Big Three semicon- However, the sales gain of
- ductor makers are believed to second-ranked Hitachi, Lid.
_ have boosted their chip sales by was limited to27 per cent, as the
' 30-50 per cent in the 1980 busi- No. 2 maker last year shifted
ness year ended March 31. The emphasis to ~oduction of 64K
Big Three.are Nippon Electric dynamic RAMs, the "strategic
Co. (NEC). Hitachi, Ltd. and ~ommodity" in the next
Toshiba Corp. in that order. generation. Hitachi's semi-
NEC increased its semicon- conductor sales stood at ~ 165 �
ductor sales by 40 per cent to billion.
an estimated ~222 billion,
maintaining the world's No. 2
position. Texas Instruments
Inc. is by far the largest pro-
ducer with sales reaching the
' equivalent of around ~F300
billion.
NEC has made ~p tor slowing
sales of 16-kilobit dynamic
random access memory
! R,AM) chips with a boost in
_ those of complementary metal-
oxide semiconductor (MUS)
chips, bipolar microprocessors,
custom-made large-scale inte-
grated circuits (LSIs) and
other semiconductors.
Toshiba Corp.'s sales are
estimated to have shot up 50
per cent to 150 billion in the
1980 term. Toshiba boosted
sales of discrete semiconduc-
tors and microprcee.ssors.
Semiconductor Sales of
Japan's Big 3 Makers
fApril, 1080 March, 1981; esfimated)
1. NEC ~7 bil. 1+~0%)
`4. Httachi *165bi1. (+479W
J. TOShlba ~150 bi~. f +5096)
Note: Cha~~le from the previous
ferm in parenfhesis.
COPYRIGHT: 1981, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc.
CSO: 4120/217
~ 19 ~
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SCIENCF AND TECFSIOLOGY ~
INFORMATION PROCESSING BOOMING IN COUNTRY
Tokyo JAPAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL in English Vol 19 No 951, 21 Apr 81 p 9
_ [ Text ] The information processing
" industry grows at a tremen-
dously fast pace in Japan. ,
- A survey of the Information-
Technology Promotion As- -
- sociation revealed that total
revenues of the nation's in-
formation processing industry
in fiscal 1979 rose 17.4 per cent
- from the preceding year to
~ 366,280 million.
The value was 70 per cent
larger than in fiscal 1976. This
means that the industry ex-
panded at an average annual I
rate of 18.5 per cent during I
fiscal 1977 through 1979, the as- I
sociation said. The rate of in-
crease compares the 9.8 per ~
cent gain in gross national ~
product during the same '
_ period. i
The survey covered 352 com- -
panies, which broke down into
186 information processing
- service companies and 166 soft-
ware develepment companies.
Most of them were established
in the early 1970's.
These young companies have
been steadily strengthening
their financial positions. The
survey found that their internal _
reserves totaled ~ 19,548 mil-
lion in fiscal 1979, up 51.7 per
cent from the preceding year. -
' Although figures for fiscal
1980, ending March 31, 1981, are
not still available, the associa-
tion predicts expansion of the
industcy at a similar pace. _
COPYRIGHT: 1981, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc.
CSO: 4120/217
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SCIENCE AND TECI~iOLOGY _
DIGITAL AUDIO DISC COUNCIL DISBANDS
- Tokyo JAPAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL in English Vol 19 p 951 21 Apr 81 p 9 -
[Text ] The attempt tc, work out a In the absence of a unified _
unitied international standard format, producers o[ digital
on digitaf audio disc systems audio discs and players are
has failed as the industry-wide naw free to choose any of the
standardization association three formats. However, possi-
was dissolved recently before it bility is strong that a majority
could reach a conclusion. will employ the CD format,
The Digital Audio Disc which features a solid state -
~DAD) Council, comprising 49 laser for picking up sound
J � Japanese, U.S. and European signals from a 12-centimeter
audio equipment makers and disc.
an industry ass~ciation, had Even, Matsushila Elec:tric
been examining three proposed IndusUial Co. which has a con-
Formats for uearly three years. trolling equity in JVC, earlier
The three are the optical announced that it w~suld adopt
digital compact disc (CD) sys- tte CD 5ystem, dealing a heavy
tem of the Philips~ony team, nlow to the atfiliated company.
the mini-disc (MD) system of Other companies which opt -
Telefunken of West Germany, for the optical format include
and the audio high-density g~oneer Electronic Corp.,
~AHD) system of Victor Com- Hitachi, Ltd., Toshiba Corp.
pany of Japan Ltd. (JVC). and Milsubishi Electric Corp.
- }Iowever, the council has
failed to choose either of the These companies are now
- three formats as a unified competitively developing corn-
inlernational standard. In- mercialization technique in
stead, the council has published order to introduce their own -
a report which describes merits models in the market late next
of each format. year.
COPYRIGHT: 1981, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc.
CSO: 4120/217
21
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SCIFNCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SUNTORY nRACTICALIZES ENERGY-SAVING FERMENTATION
- Tokyo JAPAN FCONOMIC JOURNAL in English Vol 19 No 951, 21 Apr 81 p 12
[TextJ Suntory Ltd. has commer- of product alcohol. Besid~; +
cialized its energy-less eliminating the steaming ~
starch composition Imow- cost, the enzyme helps get
how for alcohol roduction ;
P rid of cooling facilities and ,
at its Usuki, Oita Prefec- raise alcohol content. 'It~e
ture, planl. second advantage con- ~
In the new plant opera- tributing to energy con- ;
tion, an enzyme is used to servation in distribution and
eliminate grain steaming byproduct treatment. ;
and boiling, which ~s The enz me was dis- ~
_ followed by saccharitica- covered b the firm's
tion, fermentation and y
distillation. The new tech- ~entral research institute,
- nique is designed to reduce following the study since the
_ the energy requirement for 1973 oil crisis. ;
the whole alcohol production The technique featuring (
by about 6o per cent. the new "special" enzyme
The company is seeking will hopefully help promnte
patent rights rr?ainly in biomass technology for fuel
_ Japan and the U.S. 'I1~e production. i
technique is described as '
"an epochal one" which
Suntory is confident can be
utilized for the biomass
techniyue for fuel alcohol
~nanufacture.
In the steaming and
bailing process, grain and
w~aler are mixed before
raising both temperature
a~id preGsure for easy
~ composition of starch. Sac-
charification and fermen-
tation follow befor~ the
~istillation operation for ,
alcohol production.
The requirement ot high
temperature used to cost
Suntory ~F 8,000 per kiloliter
CGYYRIGHT: 1981, the Nihon Keizai Shimbsn, Inc.
CSO: 4120/217
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SCI~,NCE AND TECHNOLOGY
JOINT CARBON FIBER VENTURE IS DUE _
Takyo JAPAN ECONOMTC JOURNAL in English Vol 19 No 951, 21 Apr 81 p 12 -
[Text] Asahi Chemical Industry Co. be run by Asahi Chemical, with
and Nippon Carbon C~. have technical and sales e~'forts to be
� launched an equally-owned shared by personnel to be dis-
- carbon fiber production and patched by the parents.
ma;-keting company. The part- For Nippon Carbon, the ti~
ners decided to build a plant up is iatended to eliminate its _
with n~�thly capacity of 15 weakness of relativ~ly small
tons st Asahi's Fuji works by capacity (5 tons monthly at its
March, 1982. It will cast the Yokohama works). The
Asahi-Nippon Carbon joint company with technical know-
venture about ~ 1 billion. how will also benefit from the
The output will be equally tieup in terms af procuring raw
split for domestic sales and material acrylic fibers. Mitstr -
exports. bishi Rayan Co., which used to .
provide Nippon Carbide with
Asahi, a major producer of the fibers, decided to start int~
acrylic fibers, agreed to supply grated production by inducting ,
the raw material ~to the new ~ber "roasting" technique
company. Enka of West Ger- from HITCO af the U.S.
many, a licensee of Nippon Asahi has failed to develop its
Carbon's production know how. own roasting skills despite its
will continue its right to market status of the largest acrylic
in West Europe. The plant will fiber maker here. _
COPYRIGHT: 1981, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc.
CSO: 4120/217 ~
23
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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
JAPANESE INDUSTRIES' REACTION TO AMERICA'S SPACE SHUTTLE SUCCESS
- Toky~ JAPAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL in English Vo1 19 No 951, 21 Apr 81 p 13
[Text]
The success of America's rate artificial satellite ' pro- for the U.S. space shuttle pro-
April 12-14 space shuttle ven- ducers, cited ti~e achievement ject as "one of the wide-rang-
ture has aroused all sorts of as �'opening the biggest epoch in ing side-effects" ot the success.
hopes and visions among many the history of space develop- Answers to various realistic
_ impressed Japanese industrial ment since man's landing on the technological and even social
- experts, including expectations moon." He also emphasizea his problems from continuation of
of a revolutionary age of tech- corporation's new resolve "to the space shuttle project were
nological s�8 social problem concentrate our electronic also visualized by many other
solutions as well as a new surge technology in fields applicable experts. Tsutomu Isobe,
of demand for Japanese indus- to the space shuttle project." development department
trial pi�oducts and services. Kenichiro Imai, mana~ing deputy director and central
Eiichi Ohara, president of the director of Ishikawajima- research laboratory director of
. Society of Japanese Aerospace Harima Heavy Industries Co., ~ltrukawa E;ectric Co., looked
Companies (SJAC), paid high was so hope:ul of she impact of forward to the creation of many
_ tribute to the success, evaluat- the American success on 3apan kinds of nonferrous metal and .
- ing it "as the curtain-raiser of a as to predict that "Japan will other industrial materials of
new age of appfying space also come to plan its own space "completely uniform~ and fault-
deveaopment technologies to shutYles, possibly a mini-type, less quality" by the space
practicai purpos~." sooner or later." laboratories to be carried up by
Masatoshi Ito, president of This kind of hope for Japan's future space shuttles. Tairo
_ Toray Industries, Inc., and efforts to build up its own space Oshima, chief of the Labora-
" Tadashi Sasaki, managing developmer~t technology fur- tory of Biochemical Reactions
director of Sharp Corp., both ther was voiced by many okr and Biocatalysts of Mitsubishi-
also t~ighly commended the servers. SJAC President Ohara Kasei Institute of Life Sciences,
achievement, with Ito expect- also emphasized his beli~f in likewise imagined "an alcohol
ing the feat to "brin~ cosmic the need for Japan's greater ef- factory in space" of great ef-
space cl~ser to mankind and forts "not to fall behind the ficiency, an unknow~ kind of
greater progress of space world's progress, while trying study on biorhythm in the
development," and Sasaki anti- to make the most of the (U.S.) weightlessness of space with no
cipating its "marked contribu- space shuttles." day-and-night change, and even
tion to the renovatior~ of elec- Tsuguhide Fujiyoshi, board "production of Foodstuffs free
_ tronics." chairman of Toray Jndustries, from the earth's biology to sug-
Koji Tmakita, senior manag- envisioned a much greater de- gest a new solution to the food
ing direclor of Mitsubishi Elec- mand for the carbon fibers his supply probYems of developing
tric Corp., one of Japan's top- company has been producing nations."
CC)PYRIGHT: 1981, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc.
a CSO: 4120/217
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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC MAKES POWER LASER PROCESSING M~CHINE
Tokyo JAPAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL in English Vol 19 No 951, 21 Apr 81 p 13
[Text ] Mitsubishi Electric Corp. has the of~cial rating after eight
developed an industrial laser hours of continuous operation.
beam processing machine of Its oscillator measures 4
- carbon ciioxide gas type at- meters long with 300 discharge
taining 4,000 watts, the most pins and consumes 900 liters of
powerful of its kind in Japan. gas per 100 hours of running.
The company will shortly The Japanese market for such
market the MIA000 as an ' laser prceessors is still in its
addition to its 1,00o to 3,000 infancy, being expected to
watt-capacity models it had attain only ~2 billion this yea;�.
earlier developed and locally But it is expected to expand ,
sold since last autumn. tive times by 1985. Mitsubishi's
The ML-4000 has a capacity new product could arott5e new~
to sever steel plates up to t5 demands for such processors as
- millimeters thick at a stroke, part of Japan's prospective
to fuse together steel plates of 6 industrial FMS (flexible manu-
mm in thickness, and to bake faMuring system). It could al~,o
steel sheets up to 2 mm in represent a new step forward of
thickness. Hitherto, such an- major Japanese laser
nealing job had been dif6cult producers toward an aim of
for laser processors short of developing by early 1984 a
4,000 watts in rated output. 20,000-watt type as the Ministry
Using :i 10.6-micron beam of International 'l~ade & Indus-
- frequency oscillator, the new try envisions.
laser pr~~cessor fluctuates only
5 per cent up and down from
COPYRIGHT: 1981, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc.
CSO: 4120/217
; 25
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NEW REMOTE TEMPER~:TIJRE MEASURING SYSTEM DEVISID
Tokyo JAPAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL in Engl3sh Vol 19 No 951, 21 Apr 81 p 13
[TextJ A new remote temperature 'ltie new system is entirely The latest trial model of the ~
measuring system that in- free froi:~ such troubles. It is new gauge uses as its light ~
volves running ligtit beams usable even on a powerful elec- source either a light-emitting
through a fiber optics line tric geqerator during opera- diode or a semiconductor laser ~
and a light-absorbing and heat- tion. 'lt~e new system is also for fiber optics communication I
- sensitive semiconductor placed much less expensive to produce purpases. But even an average '
at the target spot to ascertain than an .equivalent heat-sensi� tungsten-halogen elecfric lamp
- the temperature from return- tive fluorescent material-using is usable.
ing beams has been developed fiber optics system earlier de- Every possible technolo- !
by hlitsubishi Electric Corp. veloped, gical obstacle in ensuring the
Such remote gauging of heat 'I1~e company said its new re- full transmission of light, sach ,
- had so far been done by analyz- mote heat sensor consists of a� as sharp bends of fiber or in- '
- ing the infrared ray emitted by little slender semiconductor adequate fiber connection has ~
the target when the latter's tube about 3 centimeters long been detected and removed by '
ternperature is very high, pos- and 1.8 millimeters across and also passing an experimental
sibly above 50o degrees C. a pair of fiber optics lines. control type of light that is not
~ In the case of lower tempera- The semiconductor tube is a absorbed by the semiconduc-
- tures some contact types of little semiconductor chip of 0.1 tor.
electric heat sensors had been to 0.5 millimeters in thickness ~
attached to the target to send sandwiched between the two
lhe temperalure readings in fiber optics lines,
electric pulse signals. A beam sent trom the light ~
But such contact types had through one fiber line is i
been vulnerable to the noise- absorbed or passed by the
creating electromagnetic in- semiconductor into the other
fluence of some machinery, es- fiber line in different degrees
_ pecially high voltage electric depending on the temperatures
= power equipment. Such gauges it senses. The returning beam
thus had b~en octen unusuable is checked as to its light pulses,
wt~en the target machinery or and the result is indicated as
equipment were in operation. the temperature.
Concept of Fiber Optics�Applied Thermometer
Light source
Signal-processing
and temperature ~ C~"'Optica
display unit Temperature
,sensor
light-receivi~g unit
COPYRIGHT: 1981, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc. .
CSO: 4120/217 END
26
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