In step with Japan’s industrialization, NGK has supplied industry with a variety of devices, including ceramic pumps, blowers and valves, that feature both high durability and corrosion resistance thanks to technologies honed through activities in insulator production. These devices have been instrumental to the development of Japan’s post-war heavy chemical industry.
Advanced economic growth in Japan was accompanied by urban expansion and a new need for the creation of living environments. In this context, NGK took advantage of its technology and expertise in water separation and sintering gained from insulator production, as well as plant engineering technologies, to advance into the field of environmental systems, including water and wastewater treatment facilities and sludge incineration systems. By extending its operations into fields that support health and living comfort, NGK has developed into a company capable of meeting society’s expectations across a broad spectrum of areas.
Acid-resistant ceramic pump (Developed in 1931)
Sludge incineration system
By the 1970s, the need to purify automotive exhaust had emerged as a major global concern. Leveraging distinctive ceramics technologies, NGK developed and commercialized HONEYCERAMreg; catalytic substrates that are essential to purifying exhaust. Since then, NGK has responded to the increasingly tight exhaust restrictions that appear nearly each year, striving to improve purification capacity and achieve lighter weight by realizing ceramic substrates with thinner inner walls. Today, NGK produces ultra-thin walled HONEYCERAM® with a wall thickness of just 0.05 mm, or about the same thickness as tissue paper.
A cumulative total of over 800 million HONEYCERAM® units have been delivered to automakers worldwide. Together with diesel particulate filters (DPFs), NGK is contributing to the realization of a comfortable and convenient lifestyle for people and environmental protection on a global scale.
HONEYCERAM® a catalytic substrate for purifying automotive exhaust gas
Diesel particulate filters (DPFs) for dieselpowered vehicles
The ceramics technology that NGK has cultivated since its first days in business has become a critical element in realizing the spread and expansion of green energy.
NGK was the first in the world to commercialize NAS® batteries. This NGK technology has garnered attention in Japan and elsewhere as a system for storing electric power from wind and other natural energy sources and supplying the power with a stable level of quality. Our large nano-ceramic separation membranes, meanwhile, are expected to allow more compact equipment sizes and help to save energy and reduce CO2 emissions across a wide range of industries.
NGK’s 90-year history has been one of consistently leveraging distinctive technologies to create new value that meets the demands of the day.
Going forward, we remain committed to contributing to society’s sustainable development through creation and global supply of new products help to realize a better social environment.
