• IHI Corporation

• IHI Corporation

Ammonia is drawing attention as one of carbon-free fuels that do not emit CO₂ when burned, so various companies are examining whether to use it not only in boilers and gas turbines for thermal power plants, but in other various industries as well. IHI is carrying out development as a pioneer of ammonia combustion technology, and this article introduces the development status.

• IHI Corporation

IHI's ammonia combustion technology is attracting a lot of attention around the world, and IHI has received many inquiries about applying its ammonia utilization technology to existing thermal power plants mainly in India and Southeast Asian countries. This article introduces the information on IHI's initiatives to promote the use of ammonia outside Japan.

• IHI Plant Services Corporation / IHI Corporation

Ammonia is seen as a next-generation fuel. Ammonia is generally seemed easier to transport and store than hydrogen, and technologies for handling ammonia have already been established. However, there are many challenges that should be solved in constructing large-volume tanks necessary for producing and using great volumes of ammonia as a fuel. This article introduces the IHI Group's efforts to realize large-volume ammonia tanks.

• IHI Corporation

At the Soma IHI Green Energy Center, located in Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture, IHI started supplying an existing vehicle with methane synthesized from renewable energy-derived hydrogen and captured CO₂, which is the first achievement in Japan. On February 22, 2023, a bus fueled by the synthetic methane started its operation for the Odekake Minibus, a municipal community bus service for elderly people living in Soma City.

The IHI Group is conducting research and development on synthesis technology for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which can significantly reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions compared to conventional fossil fuels. Among the variety of methods for producing SAF, the IHI Group is working to produce SAF by directly capturing CO₂ from the atmosphere and then directly chemically reacting the CO₂ with hydrogen (H2). This method is highly cost-competitive due to the simplicity of the production process, where the intermediate process is not required. The demand for SAF is expected to increase in the future, and the synthesis technology will be one of IHI’s key technologies. This issue features an interview with the developers of SAF, General Manager Yatomi and Senior Researcher Sato. Sato is stationed in Singapore and is working on research and development of SAF at a local research institute.

• KAMATA Hiroyuki, MIZUKAMI Noriki, HASHIMOTO Takuya, TSUJIKAWA Jun, SATO Kentaro

To realize a carbon neutral society to mitigate global warming, carbon recycling in which CO₂ is captured and converted to useful chemicals and fuel is an important option for us. The IHI Group is currently dedicated to developing the technology to convert CO₂ to lower olefins for resin and plastic productions and liquid hydrocarbons as a precursor for the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The IHI Group will continue proceeding to the social implementation of these technology to realize the carbon cycle. This will contribute to promoting the carbon neutrality even in the fields of chemical productions and liquid fuels, which have been considered to be difficult to reduce CO₂ emissions by using substitute for fossil resources.

• MIMURA Takahisa, KATO Shoji

As efforts for environmental conservation including global warming prevention, it is essential to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other greenhouse gases and take measures toward carbon neutrality. In response to these requirements, IHI Power Systems Co., Ltd. has developed and delivered alternative-fueled engines and hybrid and electric propulsion systems. In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it is still indispensable to reduce air pollutants. To satisfy both of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants, IPS developed new diesel engine “25AHX,” which has reduced fuel consumption and nitrogen oxide (NOⅹ) emissions 30% lower than the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Tier II regulation and complies with Chinese maritime exhaust gas regulations. This engine is planned to be available with ammonia, carbon-free fuel. This paper reports on technologies for reducing fuel consumption and NOⅹ in this new engine and their effects.

• ITO Takamasa, MIYAURA Takuto

This paper introduces new technology related to hydrogen production by thermal decomposition of natural gas. This technology needs less energy to produce hydrogen than the other conventional technologies. And the carbon derived from natural gas is collected in solid phase after decomposition. This technology is expected to produce hydrogen in low cost with low carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. There are a variety of systems proposed, depending on the heating system, sort of catalyst and handling of the collected carbon. IHI has developed the original system which consists of the fluidized bed with iron ore as catalyst. This paper introduces the development of this technology and plan for its commercialization.

• KAWAI Masafumi

• IHI Corporation

The IHI Group has begun trial operation of an AI system that supports activities to improve work efficiency in factories. The AI system automatically visualizes factory workers’ operating hours and work content based on image recognition employing deep learning (a technology that recognizes and analyzes images using pre-trained AI models). This contributes to the digitalization of factories in other words, productivity improvement using the digital technology.