Toray Receives Order For TORAYFIL Hollow Fiber Membrane Ultrafiltration Module For Korea's Largest Membrane Filtration Water Purification Facility

Toray Industries, Inc. (head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Akihiro Nikkaku; hereinafter referred to as “Toray”) recently announced that it has received an order to supply TORAYFIL hollow fiber ultrafiltration (UF) membrane module to the largest membrane-based water purification facility in the Republic of Korea in Yeosu.

The facility has a water treatment capacity of 134,000 m³ per day and it is the largest such facility to which Toray is supplying its UF membrane. This order brings the amount of water treated using Toray membranes at water purification membrane facilities in Korea to more than 220,000 m³ per day, giving the company an overwhelming share close to 50% (calculation based on facilities whose water treatment capacity is 5,000 m³ per day or more. Estimates by Toray). In this project, Toray is scheduled to supply TORAYFIL in 2016 and the plant is expected to start operations in 2017.

In Korea, Toray already has the largest market share in water purification membranes. It has so far supplied TORAYFIL to water purification plants in Gongju (capacity of 30,000 m³ per day; operations started in 2009) and Imsil (capacity of 7,000 m³ per day; operations started in 2014) and it has also received an order to supply the membrane modules to Seongnam Bokjeong Water Purification Plant (capacity of 50,000 m³ per day; to start operations in 2017). Winning the Yeosu order is proof that the Toray track record has won the customer’s trust.

In Korea, Toray’s reverse osmosis (RO) membrane ROMEMBRA for water production and UF membrane TORAYFIL have already been recognized as the top brands in the country. In a bid to further expand its water treatment business, Toray, in 2014, acquired Woongjin Chemical Co., Ltd., a major Korean RO membrane manufacturer (currently Toray Chemical Korea Inc.). Also, Toray Advanced Materials Korea Inc. and Toray Chemical Korea Inc., the Toray Group’s business bases in the country, are actively taking part in the ongoing 7th World Water Forum as exhibitors and sponsors, energizing the event, which discusses the world’s water problems.

In its Green Innovation Business Expansion (GR) Project under the medium-term management program Project AP-G 2016, Toray is aiming to expand businesses that contribute to solving environmental, resource and energy issues. The expansion of the water treatment business is very much the core of the GR Project. Toray, as a comprehensive membrane manufacturer, will continue to strongly promote business activities that would contribute to solving the issues related to water resources by offering TORAYFIL UF membranes, such as the ones in Korea, as well as steadily winning orders for ROMEMBRA RO membranes, which have the major share of the market, and with MEMBRAY membrane separation bioreactors (MBR) for sewage and wastewater applications.

1. Track record of Toray products in large-scale membrane-based water filtration systems in Republic of Korea.