• IHI Corporation

In January 2019, the Nanatsujima Biomass Power Plant, which has an output of 49 MW, began its commercial operation on IHI’s premises in Nanatsujima, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture. Biomass power generation has a shorter history than conventional fossil fuel-fired power generation. This article introduces our problemsolving efforts to achieve stable operation and the operation results.

• ISHII Hiroki, OHNO Emi, KOZAKI Takahiro, ITO Takamasa, FUJIMORI Toshiro

In order to reduce CO2 emissions from coal-fired boilers, there are expectations of ammonia, which is free of carbon content, if it is used as fuel. On the other hand, there is a concern that the NOx emissions will increase because ammonia has a higher nitrogen content than coal. In this study, using a 10 MWth test furnace, an ammonia and pulverized coal co-firing test was conducted with ammonia injection velocity as a parameter at 20% co-firing ratio. The result showed that NOx emissions of co-firing are the same as those of single coal combustion. In addition, a co-firing test for evaluating the effect of two-stage combustion ratio, heat input and fuel ratio on NOx was conducted. The results clarified the conditions for reducing NOx emissions in ammonia co-firing.

• IHI Power Systems Co., Ltd.

Development of an electric propulsion system and the building of a port and harbor system utilizing renewable energy are underway for decarbonization. This article introduces activities of IHI Power Systems Co., Ltd. as a System Integrator.

• IHI Turbo Service Co., Ltd.

In recent years, an environmental awareness in society is growing in general and activities to create a sustainable society for the achievement of SDGs are gaining momentum. This report introduces remanufactured turbochargers provided by IHI Turbo Service Co., Ltd. to respond to the needs of society and customers.

• IHI AEROSPACE Co., Ltd.

H3 and Epsilon S launch vehicles are being developed to increase the presence of Japan’s space transportation industry in the commercial satellite market. IHI AEROSPACE Co., Ltd. developed SRB-3, a solid rocket booster for the H3, with a view of using it as a first-stage motor for Epsilon S launch vehicles. This article introduces the technological development conducted so far and future prospects.

• IHI Corporation

The IHI Group tries to learn and meet customer needs and to respond to ever-changing circumstances with the aim of promptly offering our customers valuable solutions. As a way of realizing this aim, we have established IHI Business Platform, which helps domestic members of the IHI Group execute innovation processes.

• Tohoku University of Art & Design
• Professor
• SAKAI So

• TAKAHASHI Kengo, SHIKAYAMA Hiroyuki

The characteristics of congestion control on conveyor lines cause difficulty in handling the control with classical control theories. In this study, we addressed it by combining deep reinforcement learning with Bayesian optimization, a method for optimizing parameters. The agent trained with our method successfully controlled the congestion on the conveyor line and outperformed the classical PI control. This method, which is less dependent on the designer, is expected to provide customers with added value such as reduction of person-hours and lead-time, and improvement in energy efficiency of their equipment.