Project team members talk about Nano Link, its characteristics, and its future prospects.
The Nano Link System turns the conventional wisdom about chemical pipe systems on its head. We asked three project team members who played key roles from the technology’s development to its commercialization to describe what Nano Link means to them from their respective perspectives.
Ten years after the Nano Link System was conceived, we’ve finally reached the goal of commercialization.
Kiyoshi Nishio
Manager, Fluid Engineering Laboratory
How did this product come to be developed, and when did that effort begin?- Joints and related technologies have evolved over time thanks to the hard work of numerous engineers. At the same time, installation and maintenance have become increasingly difficult as systems become more advanced (and incorporate a growing number of parts), and we felt the need for a radical solution. We realized that it would not be possible to gain space simply by extending existing technologies, and we came upon the idea of directly connecting components without using tubes. It took us about 10 years from the start of development to the commercialization of the product.
What were your areas of special focus during the development process?- The product can be expressed succinctly as “screw-less technology.” Connection systems that rely on nuts with screws require that a variety of confirmation tasks be carried out to prevent loosening, and associated procedures and rules retain a certain amount of ambiguity. We developed a clamp that doesn’t use screws from this sort of perspective. The design can be installed quickly and safely, and it yields consistent performance.
What kind of value does the product offer customers, and how do you plan to foster its evolution in the future?- Since Nano Link doesn’t use tubes to make connections, it need not be available in different variants specified in millimeters and inches. Instead, a new diameter standard reduces the number of parts in the system. In addition, all products incorporate a specially designed cap that reduces the number of contaminating particles and helps shorten process startup times. Unlike tube joints, the Nano Link seal structure exhibits almost no deformation in its inside diameter, and pressure loss is extremely low, allowing for a stable flow rate. In short, pipe sizes in the fundamental design can be reduced. In the future, standardizing Nano Link will make it possible to combine pipes as if they were LEGO® blocks, and in this way the product can be expected to dramatically reduce the amount of time engineers spend on design. We hope that customers will foster the development of Nano Link.
*LEGO® is a registered trademark of the LEGO Group.
By experiencing how Nano Link changes the system design process, I learned how we could save space, cut lead times, and lower costs.
Masato Noda
Unit Manager, Shiga Plant
Yodogawa Hu-Tech Co., Ltd.
- What can you tell us about the fabrication of the system built for the SEMICON exhibition?
- Our key goals were to make an extremely compact design that would be easy for customers to see and that would allow them to understand Nano Link. When customers design bulk chemical delivery systems and other equipment, they’re faced with a number of requests from facility operators. Many of those requests center on the amount of space taken up by the system when it’s installed. There’s not an endless amount of space in plants, and reducing the size of systems is one of the most important requirements in such projects. We kept this in mind when fabricating the system and worked to ensure that visitors could easily see how much smaller it is than systems that rely on conventional joints.
- What did you feel when you assembled the system built for the SEMICON exhibition?
- From the standpoint of installation method, installation environment, and maintainability, the system is identical to tube joints in terms of design. In addition, by comparing the size by volume as described above, we found that the system we built for the exhibition was about 55% smaller than a system built with tube joints. In this way, we were able to confirm that Nano Link helps save space and that it also increases the degree of freedom with which peripheral components can be positioned.
- What aspects of the system built for the SEMICON exhibition would you especially like to promote?
- With existing products, tube work involved manual processes that had to be carried out while checking bending radius, distance, and direction, and the amount of nut tightening after flare and sleeve work must be adjusted.
With Nano Link, the number of steps that involve preparing tubes in the field approaches zero. The final process consists solely of press-fitting the Seal Ring and then applying the Clamp; there’s no need for measurement, management of the cut edge of the tubes, heating, or management of the amount of tightening. In this way, we were able to help significantly reduce lead times in system fabrication while simultaneously reducing costs.
The Nano Link System lets customers reduce the number of parts that need to be kept in inventory and ordered. Going forward, we plan to make it available in a broad range of sectors beyond the chemical industry.
Naoyuki Oba
Manager, Sales Section 3
SEP Sales Division
Yodogawa Hu-Tech Co., Ltd.
- What do you most want to communicate to customers in sales?
- A number of seal structures have been developed over the past few decades, but the basic construction has remained unchanged. The Nano Link System represents a fundamental reassessment of that structure. I believe that the product can contribute to not only performance, but also buyers’ and suppliers’ total delivery environment.
- How did customers react to the product announcement?
- Customers are coming to us for advice about the design of specific systems, and we’re seeing interest from every quarter. I’m glad to be able to experience the product’s potential for resolving issues with conventional joints and playing a useful role for customers. We’re preparing to meet demand as more and more customers choose Nano Link.
- How do you plan to promote Nano Link in the future?
- I believe the first step will be to spread awareness of the Nano Link System in the semiconductor industry so that we can address some of the challenges facing that sector. I expect that the technology can be used in a variety of industries, so I’m looking forward to promoting it in the pharmaceutical and food industries, too, among others.
