Initiatives targeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
̶ Through Business
Resources, Energy & Environment
IHI Solid Biomass Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (ISBM) was established in Malaysia to fully expand the manufacture, export and sale of solid biomass fuel, or EFB pellets, derived from palm empty fruit bunches.
Biomass fuel made from palm trees
Large quantities of EFB generated during the extraction of palm oil tends to be discarded and unused, resulting in soil contamination and methane gas release due to the high content of moisture, ash and salt making EFB vulnerable to rot. IHI has established a method to convert and mass-produce EFB into high-quality low-ash pellets,
which can be used effectively as solid biomass fuel.
IHI also developed and is piloting a system to treat palm oil mill effluent and a facility to manufacture pellets from discarded oil palm trunks in Malaysia. Both initiatives will help to utilize palm oil production waste and reduce the environmental impact of the palm industry.
ISBM pellet manufacturing site (Malaysia)
Developing an eco-friendly industrial estate
Also, together with Nextgreen Global Berhad (NGGB), a major Malaysian printing company, and Nomura Holdings, Inc., IHI is evaluating the feasibility of producing pulp for paper-making and using EFB for biomass fuel production. The three parties also are considering a collaboration to support the use of palm waste at NGGB’s eco-friendly industrial estate, Green Technology Park.
The IHI Group aims to improve the sustainability of the palm industry, one of the major industries in Malaysia, and contribute to the stable supply of solid biomass fuel, for which demand is expected to rise greatly in Japan.
Social Infrastructure & Offshore Facilities
JIM Technology Corporation (JIMT), an IHI subsidiary in the shield system field, acquired 51% of Hong Kong-based Terratec Limited. Terratec offers a total system based on its tunnel boring machine (TBM) main units1 and backup systems2, which it is marketing globally. The two companies, have already been cooperating in overseas projects, are now leveraging their mutual strengths to become a world-class comprehensive tunnel builder.
Growing by overseas market development
The overseas market for TBMs is worth about US$ 3.5 billion, 10 times the size of the market in Japan, is expected to achieve further growth in the future and is expected to continue growing. The demand for TBMs has great promise due to needs for infrastructure maintenance and subway route expansion, particularly in the developing interior regions of China and India and also in urbanizing areas of ASEAN, Middle East, Turkey and more.
Global strategy based on synergy of strengths
JIMT, having a track record of delivering more than 4,000 shield machines in Japan and overseas with strengths in large-diameter shield machines, now has become capable to offer a total system including the backup systems brought by Terratec through a capital tie-up with Terratec.
Terratec also has a proven track record in the global market,
including large market shares in India, South East Asia and Turkey.
The strategic alliance between JIMT and Terratec in TBM business will realize significant synergies in technology and thereby enhance mutual competitive strengths.
- 1.Tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are used for excavating subway and road tunnels.
- 2.Backup systems are installed behind the TBM main unit to move tunnel boring machines.
Excavation for the Thomson line of the Singapore subway
Industrial Systems & General-Purpose Machinery
Our business unit provides both equipment and job services for heat and surface treatments to customers worldwide, through our group companies IHI Machinery and Furnace, IHI Ionbond, IHI Hauzer Techno Coating and IHI VTN.
This allows our customers to choose between purchasing equipment for in-house production or outsourcing the service,
depending on their production system. The capability to provide the same IHI technologies in both cases is the strength of our business.
The demand in machinery-related industries is growing particularly in Europe at present.
Heat treatment of metal parts and surface treatment to form thin layers on surfaces are technologies aimed at improving properties such as wear resistance, impact resistance and surface smoothness.
They are widely used for general manufacturing tools, automotive parts and more.
IHI Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering Business Unit Network in Europe
Reduction of parts weight and production costs are both possible by replacing metal with lightweight materials, such as plastic, and by adding a metal thin layer to the surface only. We are also contributing to environmental-impact reduction with a coating technology that does not use hexavalent chromium, which is harmful to the human body.
We will expand applications in existing fields such as in medical (medical tools, artificial joints, etc.), interiors (door knobs, water faucets, etc.), luxury goods (watches, accessories, etc.) and accelerate globalization by increasing our production capacity in North America, China and India, where market growth is anticipated.
Examples of fields and products where heat and surface treatments are applied
Aero Engine, Space & Defense
In June 2018, XF9-1 jet engine prototype for future fighter jets was delivered to the Aerial Systems Development Division of the Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA).
ATLA began developing the engine based on the Hyper Slim Engine concept in FY2010. Incorporating world-leading technology, the compact, lightweight engine achieves high output and has already been confirmed as satisfying required functional and performance requirements.
Leading-edge technologies incorporated in the engine include an aerodynamic design based on highly advanced simulation technology,
a proprietary single-crystal alloy and turbine components made with ceramic matrix composites (CMC). In achieving 15 tons of thrust, on par with the world’s top-class engines and a first for a domestically made engine, ATLA and IHI have demonstrated to the world the advanced state of Japanese engine technology.
Going forward, IHI will continue to push the envelope for manufacturing fighter jet engines by advancing and integrating the company’s world-class technologies.
Scene of work at Mizuho Factory