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MHI Adds 2 Environmental Categories to its Annual "Best Innovation Awards"
-- Recognizing Outstanding Products and Technologies That Contribute to Resolving Environmental Issues of Global Scale --

No.2102
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・ Three “Best Environmental Product Awards” given, including world’s largest CO2 recovery plant

・ “Best Environmental Practice Award” presented for new business model for recycling compound materials used in aircraft manufacture

Tokyo, January 30, 2018 - Starting in 2017, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has added two new categories, both related to the environment, to its roster of in-house "Best Innovation Awards": the "Best Environmental Product Award" and "Best Environmental Practice Award." With their addition, the Company aims to enhance its Group employees' awareness toward environmental contributions and promote further technological innovations. By providing superior products and technologies, MHI also looks to make future contributions to resolving environmental issues of global scale. In the initial year, three "Best Environmental Product Awards" were given to products that have contributed to protecting the global environment or enhanced the environmental image, and one "Best Environmental Practice Award" was presented to a business activity that contributed to global environmental protection. The award-winning products and practice are described below.

Best Environmental Product Awards

  • CO2 recovery plant featuring world's largest processing capacity: simultaneously protects the environment and increases energy production / Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering, Ltd.
    The award-winning plant recovers carbon dioxide (CO2) from the combustion gas emitted by thermal power plants. The recovered CO2 is injected in an oil field and used to increase crude production and recovery. The plant adopts a proprietary process which uses an absorbent jointly developed with Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. to significantly reduce the amount of energy consumed during CO2 recovery. MHI has already delivered 13 systems worldwide that recover CO2 from flue gas for commercial use, giving the Company the top share of the global market in commercial applications in this field. The award-winning plant's CO2 recovery capacity is a record 4,776 tons per day, allowing for reductions of more than 1.5 million tons of CO2 annually.
  • Energy-independent sewage-sludge incinerator: significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions / Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Environmental & Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd.
    The award-winner is Japan's first energy-independent sewage-sludge incinerator that generates more energy than the amount of power consumed by the plant. This is achieved by incorporating into a conventional sewage-sludge incinerator a binary power generation system (manufactured by Turboden S.p.A.) that uses the heat and vaporization of a medium with a low boiling point. This innovative incinerator reduces nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas emanating from sewage sludge, and, including reduced power, is capable of cutting CO2 emissions by 50% compared to conventional systems. The first incinerator of this type is currently under construction in Tokyo. Use of this incineration plant can reduce CO2 by approximately 120,000 tons per year.
  • Centrifugal chillers using low-GWP refrigerant across full capacity range / Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Thermal Systems, Ltd.
    The award-winning centrifugal chillers are the first of their kind from a Japanese manufacturer to adopt a low-GWP refrigerant (global warming potential close to CO2 and 1/1300 the conventional level) in response to the "Kigali Amendment" to the Montreal Protocol*. The chillers are manufactured in two series: the small capacity range "ETI-Z" and the large capacity range "GART-ZE." As a result, MHI Thermal Systems is Japan's first producer of low-GWP centrifugal chillers for the complete capacity range. The volume of CO2 emissions deriving from power consumption during operation is approximately 40% less than the level of MHI's products of 20 years ago. Conversion of all centrifugal chillers in Japan to MHI Thermal Systems' low-GWP chillers would result in a reduction in CO2 by roughly 7.7 million tons per annum.

Best Environmental Practice Award

  • Creation of business model for recycling compound materials used in aircraft manufacture / Aircraft, Defense & Space domain: Commercial Airplanes Division
    Use of carbon-fiber compound materials in the aircraft industry is increasing, but producing carbon fiber consumes large amounts of energy and places a burden on the environment from processing the resulting waste. In response, MHI devised a method for extracting carbon fiber from compound material waste and, by means of fiber morphology, confirmed that the recycled carbon fiber has utility value equivalent to new fiber. MHI was also the first company to create a value chain involving recycling business operators to extract recycled carbon fiber from waste. This has reduced energy consumption in carbon fiber manufacturing by around 10%, and with recycling use of all the Company's approximately 1,000 tons of compound waste material, allows for reduction of nearly 10,000 tons of CO2 per annum.

The "Best Innovation Awards" is an award system for recognizing original new products, services, technologies and businesses within the MHI Group. The program has been conducted annually since 2003. In 2017, including the four awards in the newly introduced environmental categories, a total of 18 awards was presented.

Note
* The amendment, adopted in October 2016 in the Rwandan capital city of Kigali, calls for new restrictions applied to alternative hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).


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.