Feb 2, 2023 | Business
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) received the “Awards for Excellence” at the 2022 Nikkei Excellent Products and Services Awards sponsored by Nikkei Inc., for its compact CO2 capture system developed for wide range of industries. The awards ceremony was held today at The Okura Tokyo hotel in Minato-ku, Tokyo.
The Awards for Excellence, now in its 41st year, are presented annually for products and services that are in principle announced between January and December, and featured in Nikkei Inc. media. During 2022, a total of 20 new products or services (8 industrial products, 7 consumer products, and 5 services) were selected for Awards for Excellence from among 197 candidates. MHI’s compact CO2 capture system was highly evaluated for its compact and highly versatile module configuration that significantly shortens the time required for transport and installation.
The first compact CO2 capture system for commercial use has been operating since June 2022 at the Seifu-shinto biomass power plant operated by Taihei Dengyo Kaisha, Ltd.(Note1). The captured CO2 is used for growing vegetables in the company’s on-site greenhouses, contributing to measures to prevent global warming. One of the merits of the compact CO2 capture system is that its small size allows it to be applied for CO2 capture technologies in a wide range of industries globally, including “hard-to-abate” sectors(2). Going forward, MHI will expand its lineup of compact CO2 capture systems, and by providing new services beyond just installation, such as automatic operation and remote monitoring, establish an integrated customer support package from planning to after-sales service.
This compact CO2 capture system was recently named “CO2MPACT” (trademark registration pending). Looking ahead, MHI aims to enhance recognition globally, and promote stakeholders pursuing carbon neutrality. The name incorporates the aspects of “easiness,” “lightness,” “moving fast,” and “simple,” as the system will contribute to the advancement of the decarbonization sector and expand business opportunities.
MHI Group is currently strengthening its position in the Energy Transition, and the development of a CO2 solutions ecosystem is a core component of those initiatives. MHI Group will continue to help achieve wide-scale greenhouse gas emission reduction by introducing its high-performance CO2 capture technology globally. It will also press ahead in developing new solutions to contribute to global environment protection.
(1) For details on the first commercial compact CO2 capture system, see the following press release: www.mhi.com/news/22063001.html
(2) Hard-to-abate sectors are industries such as steel, chemicals, cement, and paper/pulp where the use of fossil fuels in the manufacturing process makes electrification challenging, making it difficult to achieve zero carbon emissions with existing technologies and materials alone.
About MHI Group’s CO2 capture technologies
MHI Group has been developing the KM CDR Process (Kansai Mitsubishi Carbon Dioxide Recovery Process) and the Advanced KM CDR Process in collaboration with Kansai Electric Power since 1990. As of February 2023, the company has delivered 14 plants adopting the KM CDR Process, and two more are currently under construction. The Advanced KM CDR Process uses KS-21, which incorporates technological improvements over the KS-1 solvent adopted at all 14 of the commercial CO2 capture plants the company has delivered to date. The advanced version offers superior regeneration efficiency and lower deterioration than KS-1, and it has been verified to provide excellent energy saving performance, reduce operation costs, and result in low amine emissions.
For further information on MHI Group’s CO2 capture plants:
www.mhi.com/products/engineering/co2plants.html
About MHI Group
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group is one of the world’s leading industrial groups, spanning energy, smart infrastructure, industrial machinery, aerospace and defense. MHI Group combines cutting-edge technology with deep experience to deliver innovative, integrated solutions that help to realize a carbon neutral world, improve the quality of life and ensure a safer world. For more information, please visit www.mhi.com or follow our insights and stories on spectra.mhi.com.
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Oct 1, 2021 | Business
Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501) and Hitachi Astemo, Ltd. today jointly announced the development a compact, lightweight direct-drive(1) system for the increasingly popular EV segment,(2) which combines the motor, inverter, and brake into a single unit (Fig. 1). This enables the installation of the entire system into the wheel, thus moving the world one step closer to a zero-emissions society. The new motor transmits the high drive force necessary to run an EV directly to the wheels, and its lightweight design and world-class 2.5 kW/kg power density(3) significantly limit the weight increase traditionally associated with in-wheel units. Moreover, adopting an in-wheel unit does not require a substantial change to the existing configuration of the suspension and other components. Driveshafts and other indirect mechanisms have been eliminated, allowing motor power to be applied directly to EV operation.
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This reduces energy loss by 30 percent and increases the range on a single charge compared to existing EVs.
Hitachi and Hitachi Astemo will continue research into practical implementation of the technology, which enables more expansive interior and battery installation spaces. In addition to the vehicle control technology it has been developing, Hitachi Astemo will apply the new direct-drive system to its already-extensive, global EV product lineup.
Background and additional information
There is growing investment activity and technological development towards realizing a decarbonized society. In the motor vehicle sector, there is an especially strong legislative push for transitioning from gasoline-driven vehicles to EVs. In conventional EVs, the drive system is placed on the chassis, which limits interior and/or battery space. Fitting the motor inside a wheel has been identified as a solution, but this increases the weight in the wheel and requires sweeping changes to the existing brake and suspension components.
To address this, Hitachi and Hitachi Astemo’s lightweight direct-drive system-drawing on Hitachi Group’s broad technology and product development in the mobility space that includes railways and elevators-combines motor, inverter, and brake into a single in-wheel unit for EVs. The features of the technology are as follows:
1. Halbach array magnets and innovative flat coils produce world-class power density
Increasing the number of magnetic poles is effective in improving a motor’s drive force, but has shortcomings-namely, that it reduces the proportion of magnetic flux that can be effectively used, and necessitates more coil weld points and welding space. By placing the magnets in a Halbach array,(4) Hitachi and Hitachi Astemo have succeeded in improving drive force by increasing the effective magnetic flux of each magnetic pole, and made the motor lighter by using beam welding(5) to create a high-density array of flat coils, thus achieving world-class 2.5 kW/kg power density. This limits the in-wheel weight increase of the EV, and avoids the increased energy consumption that’s characteristic of conventional, heavier in-wheel systems.
2. Direct-drive system incorporating a single motor, inverter, and brake unit
Prior EV motors have low power density and monopolize space inside the wheel to provide sufficient drive force, which make it difficult to use existing brakes and suspension components. Space is also needed for a dedicated and electrically insulated coolant channel, which prevents electrical faults from occurring when power semiconductors in the inverter come in contact with coolant. The newly developed system uses direct-cooling technology, in which high-insulating cooling oil directly cools the power semiconductors and is cycled to the motor to directly cool the coils. This combined with the single-unit drive system-which integrates a motor, brake and inverter-significantly reduces the space taken up by cooling pipes, and enables in-wheel installation without having to significantly alter the existing configuration of suspension and other components.
The technology will be exhibited in part at the 30th Aachen Colloquium, from October 4 to 6 in Aachen, Germany.
(1) Direct-drive: A drive system in which the drive force of a motor is directly transmitted to the wheels.
(2) EV: electric vehicle.
(3) Motor power density: Ratio of motor output to weight. Weight includes the motor housing and the driveshafts.
(4) Halbach array: A magnetic array in which the orientation of the N pole of each magnet is rotated 90 degrees to create high-density magnetic flux at each of the magnetic poles of a motor.(5) Beam welding: A welding method in which the beam is concentrated on specific areas of metal to spot-weld.
About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is focused on its Social Innovation Business that combines information technology (IT), operational technology (OT) and products. The company’s consolidated revenues for fiscal year 2020 (ended March 31, 2021) totaled 8,729.1 billion yen ($78.6 billion), with 871 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 350,000 employees worldwide. Hitachi is working to increase social, environmental and economic value for its customers across six domains; IT, Energy, Industry, Mobility, Smart Life and Automotive Systems through Lumada, Hitachi’s advanced digital solutions, services, and technologies for turning data into insights to drive digital innovation.
Hitachi is a Principal Partner of COP26, playing a leading role in the efforts to achieve a decarbonized society and become a climate change innovator. Hitachi strives to achieve carbon neutrality at all its business sites by 2030 and to achieve an 80 percent reduction in CO2 emissions across the company’s value chain by 2050.
For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s website at https://www.hitachi.com.
About Hitachi Astemo, Ltd.
Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Hitachi Astemo is a joint venture between Hitachi, Ltd. and Honda Motor Co. Hitachi Astemo is a technology company that develops, manufactures, sells and services automotive and transportation components, as well as industrial machinery and systems. For more information, visit the company’s website at https://www.hitachiastemo.com/en/.
