July 11, 2008 – Ebara has ramped to mass production of its exhaust gas treatment system that filters out perfluoride compounds (PFCs) emitted during semiconductor and LCD panel production, according to the Nikkei Business Daily.

In the company’s new product, fluorine-carbon PFCs are passed through an Al/Ca mixture and heated to produce calcium fluoride. The system uses no water, which eliminates the need for wastewater treatment processes and facilities, the paper notes. The product boasts >99% removal efficiency, separating out greenhouse gases equivalent to 2000 tons/year of CO₂ (PFCs have 5700×-11,900&times the greenhouse effect of CO₂). Moreover, the calcium fluoride produced during the process can be reused as an ingredient in cement, or as a substitute for fluorite in lens materials.

Ebara hopes to sell 300 units of the product within three years, generating ¥5B (US ~47M) in revenues.