A recent study1 suggests that the plan to avoid a global catastrophe by limiting global warming to 2° Celsius this century over pre-industrial levels is still within reach. At IMI, we know that we have an important contribution to make to the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions. It’s a role we take very seriously.
Our purpose, ‘Breakthrough Engineering for a better world’, is evidence of this. We take on the biggest fluid-engineering challenges in some of the world’s fastest-moving industries, while always remaining mindful of our responsibilities to employees, suppliers, wider communities and the environment.
A prime example relates to hydrogen fuel cells on heavy-duty commercial vehicles, like the large trucks you see on motorways. These vehicles can weigh upwards of 16 tonnes. With conventional engines they can only achieve a fuel economy of around eight miles per gallon and every mile they travel produces approximately 1.5kg of CO2. But, if you can equip one with a fuel cell that converts hydrogen into electricity via a chemical reaction, its only emissions are air and water.
Breakthrough Engineering
“Global CO2 reduction is our end goal. That’s why our work is so important,” says Steve Green, APAC Director of Transportation, General Manager, Australia and New Zealand.
“We can make heavy-duty trucks zero emissions. We’re working with customers in China as they’re leading the way. We are also making progress in Europe.”
Steve is based in Singapore and his engineering team in Shanghai, where IMI’s largest division, IMI Precision have had an office for 15 years. He explains what ‘Breakthrough Engineering’ means for his team: “Our work centres on what’s called the ‘balance of plant’ in the fuel cell. That means controlling the flow of hydrogen and air (oxygen) going into the fuel cell and also controlling the thermal management of the system.”
It’s a field where things change quickly. “Fuel cells have become significantly more powerful even in the space of the past 18 months,” says Steve.
“When we started this project, we were looking at 50-kilowatt fuel cells (70 horsepower), now we’re working on 240-kilowatt cells. As they’ve increased in size, the cooling requirements have increased and we’ve been able to develop high-flow, motorised valves that control the thermal dynamics as well as the ever increasing flow and control requirement of the Hydrogen inlet system.”
In another example of innovation, the company has a patent pending on a multi-stage ejector that draws unused hydrogen back into the fuel cell. “The traditional way of doing that is with a pump, but that’s a mechanical device whereas this is a passive device increasing reliability and reducing complexity,” he says.
Core values aid ‘customer intimacy’
“Speed is one of the things that differentiates us,” says Steve.
“One way we’ve achieved that has been by creating space in people’s work so they’re not always really busy. Also, by creating a culture where failure isn’t necessarily bad, so long as we learn from it and there are no safety issues. We don’t want people to overthink things and we want to celebrate our successes.”
The philosophy of ‘fail fast/learn fast’ has also worked well in conjunction with what’s referred to as ‘customer intimacy’. Steve explains: “Our lead customer is Sinosynergy, a major hydrogen fuel-cell manufacturer in China. They’ve produced several iterations of their fuel cell and we’re constantly working with them with new parts and prototypes, testing and tuning. Each time they’re faster, more powerful and smaller.
“As the customer found what it needed changed constantly, if we had focused on being perfect, we would always have been behind. We might find something wasn’t flowing as much as the customer wanted, but then they would say, ‘actually, we want to change the hose size on that as well’. In doing this, we have been able to move forwards more quickly.”
“That customer voice is vital and, as we’re right next to them in China, it’s helped to build up a powerful customer intimacy. As they develop their fuel cell, we help them develop the surrounding components.”
Another key aspect has been diversity of thought and team spirit. “We added graduates for fresh thinking, one as project manager,” says Steve. “We also changed the way we measured performance. So rather than manage by tasks, we managed by milestones. We basically said, ‘this is the prototype the customer needs by the end of May. You manage the timescales within your team, which was very flat and non-hierarchal.”
‘ESG is the whole project’
The expectation is that the Chinese Hydrogen fuel cell industry will see large scale of development over the next five to 10 years. Sinsosynergy aspires to be the market leader and system-design manager Mr Zhao says he’s been very pleased by his company’s collaboration with IMI Precision.
“Whether it’s technically or commercially, Sinosynergy always receives a fast response. It’s clear that IMI Precision attaches great importance to China’s domestic hydrogen-energy industry and there will be good opportunities for us to work closely in the future,” he says.
The appreciation is mutual. As Steve says:
“It’s exciting how quickly things are moving. The overwhelming feeling among the team is pride at what they’ve achieved. If we had followed mainstream processes and procedures, there’s no way we could have kept up with our customers and the market.”
But, with scientists warning that even a rise of 2°C in temperature will still take a ‘dramatic toll’ on the planet, there is no room for complacency. So, will IMI’s work lead to a better world?
Yes, says Steve. “A zero-emission heavy-duty truck is really quite incredible. As long as the hydrogen is produced by ‘green’ hydrogen [rather than derived from fossil fuels], then the total carbon-footprint is less with a hydrogen vehicle than it is with a battery electric vehicle. ESG is really at the heart of the whole project.”
• IMI has set out its ambitions for ESG using the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures framework. This includes halving the organisation’s total CO2 intensity by 2030 and continuing to be a more inclusive and diverse employer. IMI is also committed to net zero by 2040.
To find out more IMI’s commitment to a better world, please see the annual report.
1 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220211161325.htm
