• IHI Corporation

Tropical forests play an essential role in achieving carbon neutrality and conserving biodiversity.

Sumitomo Forestry Co., Ltd. and the IHI Group has launched a project to conserve and properly manage tropical forests, and even forecast how such forests become in the future. The project takes advantages of advanced forest management and water management techniques of Sumitomo Forestry and sophisticated sensing and data analysis technologies of the IHI Group.

• IHI Power System Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.
  IHI Transport Engineering Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.
  IHI Solid Biomass Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.

Most empty fruit bunches (EFB) generated in palm oil mill plants are not used beneficially. They are left on oil palm farms and emit methane gas into the atmosphere when they rot. We have turned them into pellets and conducted the first firing demonstration at a thermal power plant in Malaysia, taking the first step to establish a power generation cycle with local production and consumption of biomass fuel.

• IHI Corporation

IHI is deploying a digital platform to calculate CO2 emissions and reduction from equipment operation data obtained through our IoT system, ILIPS®, etc., record and manage calculation results, and tokenize them as environmental values in the blockchain.

• ISHIKAWA Atsushi, HASHIBA Michitaro, WADA Daisuke, LIU Zhihong, ONIZUKA Hisakazu

To realize carbon neutrality, it is important to decarbonize heat utilization processes that currently depend on fossil fuels, in addition to the spread of green power derived from renewable energy. A short-term approach to decarbonize heat utilization processes is to promote energy-saving equipment, while a medium- to long-term approach is to switch fuels that do not emit CO2, electrify processes, and use green power. As an effort to promote energy saving, IHI has developed an evaluation technology for a system that recovers and stores the heat of high-temperature exhaust gas from a power plant and utilizes it. After conducting basic experiments using materials that can store high-temperature heat, such as crushed stones and steel balls, IHI conducted demonstration tests using exhaust gas from power generation equipment that was actually in operation, and confirmed the effectiveness of the system.

• IHI Corporation

Oil-lubricated bearings require devices that allow oil to circulate, while gas bearings do not. Using gas bearings makes it possible to significantly reduce the weight of electric turbomachinery mounted in aircraft and fuel-cell vehicles. IHI is developing gas bearings that can be used under heavy load, low ambient pressure and various other conditions, thereby contributing to the realization of carbon neutrality of transportation equipment.

• DODO Yasush, OCHI Fumitoshi

The Kuroshio Current along the coast of Japan is one of the strongest ocean currents in the world and is expected to be a stable power source of renewable energy. IHI has worked on the project which is development of a floating-type ocean current turbine system to utilize the Kuroshio Current for power generation, the project was supported by NEDO. We had demonstrated basic concepts of the floating-type ocean current turbine system by 2017. This paper introduces mainly the demonstration test conducted in the actual Kuroshio Current area from 2019 to 2021, and also describes the economic feasibility when this system is used as a source of electricity for remote islands.

• FUJITA Yutaka, ICHIGUCHI Masahiro, OKA Ryotaro, KONISHI Nobukatsu, INAMURA Akinobu

We evaluated the power generation performance of the floating-type ocean current turbine system based on the results of the demonstration test in 2021. We confirmed that continuous and stable power generation operation is possible under various current velocity conditions, and we obtained power generation performance such as power curve and internal power consumption. We calculated the facility utilization ratio by combining the power generation performance with the measured annual Kuroshio Current velocity data. The results confirmed that this system is a promising renewable energy generation method in the future.

• IHI Corporation

The operation and maintenance support system MEDICUS NAVI uses remote monitoring technology to assess the operating states of boilers, which leads to the improvement of operating efficiency and operability of thermal power plants. In addition, our new inspection and assessment technology checks the soundness of thermal power plants, contributing to increasing their operating rate.

• Zai Nomura

Zai Nomura, a contemporary Japanese artist based in the USA, has been collaborating since 2018 with IHI Corporation.

He gives lectures for IHI's in-house "artistic thinking" program, the second term of which recently ended. This program attracts many employees who are looking for clues to how to make things that have never existed before become a reality. Some participants say the program had enabled them to get ideas from a completely different angle.

This article presents an interview with Nomura, who has brought new perspectives from the art world to IHI.

• KOWASHI Yoshiya, SASAKI Takahiro, HAYASHI Toshihiro, HASHIZUME Sho

We have enhanced the detection functions of the 3D laser radar level crossing obstacle detection system (hereinafter referred to as “the 3DLR”). The 3DLR detects obstacles in level crossings by measuring the distance to objects using laser beams. Due to the demand for obstacle detection system with higher detection capabilities, we have worked to improve the functionality of the system and developed a falling down detecting function. The test was conducted in simulated environments and at on-site level crossings, and it was confirmed that the system could detect falling objects even in snowy regions, making it possible to improve the safety of level crossings and detect objects more accurately than ever before.

• WATANABE Fumiaki, YAMANAKA Shohei, NAKAMURA Takeshi

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) introduced F7-10 turbofan engine to demonstrate new aeroengine technologies developed in Japan by producing their usage environment with an actual engine. The engine is a high bypass ratio turbofan engine developed by Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) for P-1 maritime patrol aircraft. In the course of its development, IHI designed and manufactured it. Commissioned by New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), IHI developed a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) shroud which has 1 400°C class temperature capability and confirmed its soundness when mounted in the actual engine through a demonstration test conducted jointly with JAXA.

• KAWAI Takuya, KONISHI Hiroyuki, NAKANOWATARI Isao

In recent years, "diffusion bonding," which enables precision bonding, direct bonding, and dissimilar material bonding, has been attracting attention. Diffusion bonding is a method of joining by bringing the components into close contact that cause as little plastic deformation as possible, thereby achieving a metallic bond between the bonded surfaces. IHI Machinery and Furnace Co., Ltd. (IMS) has been producing hot press equipment for diffusion bonding for nearly 40 years. There are two types of vacuum hot presses: a basic single-axis type and a multi-axis type for larger processed products and improved mass production. In recent years, IMS has been providing bonding process support service by developing not only vacuum hot presses, but also diffusion bonding processes. In order to expand the diffusion bonding market, this paper introduces the support system using IMS's test equipment as well as support system.