Company Overview
IHI Corporation's Aioi Plant is a core manufacturing facility producing large-scale industrial equipment such as power generation boilers and tanks. Having supported Japan's energy infrastructure for many years, the plant has positioned carbon neutrality and circular economy as important management policies in its own production activities.
Multiple compressors operate within the plant, with compressed air used across a wide range of processes including cutting, welding, and assembly. Compressed air-related electricity accounts for a significant portion of energy consumption, making efficiency improvements a key component of the plant's energy-saving strategy.
Energy Visualization Initiatives
IHI Aioi Plant has progressively worked on visualizing energy consumption.
Phase 1 (2019)
In 2019, the plant first implemented energy consumption visualization for approximately 30% of major equipment. By installing power meters, they identified how much energy each piece of equipment consumed, establishing the direction for improvements.
Phase 2 (2022)
In 2022, PUSHLOG and additional power meters were introduced, and a cloud-based data analysis platform using Tableau was established. This enabled real-time monitoring of approximately 90% of equipment energy consumption.
During this analysis, a surprising fact emerged: data clearly showed that compressors were consuming significant electricity even during production stoppages. The cause of this electricity consumption was air leaks spread throughout the factory.
Air Leak Diagnosis Results
To address the problems revealed through energy visualization, IHI Aioi Plant utilized AirMore's air leak diagnostic service. A detailed factory-wide survey by specialist engineers identified a total of 131 air leak locations.
The annual loss from these leaks was calculated at 1,368,621 yen. Of the 131 locations discovered, 115 locations (87.8%) were promptly repaired, achieving annual savings of approximately 1,201,649 yen. The remaining locations are being addressed sequentially as part of scheduled maintenance plans.
Most repair work was completed through relatively simple measures such as tightening joints and replacing packing, without requiring significant capital investment — an important point.
Visualization Camera Adoption
Having experienced the effectiveness of the air leak diagnostic service, the plant decided to purchase an air leak visualization camera for continuous in-house leak countermeasures. After camera adoption, demonstrations were conducted across five internal departments, detecting an additional 50 new leaks that the diagnostic service had not found.
A particularly noteworthy discovery was the phenomenon where repairing a leak at one location caused pressure balance changes in the piping, leading to new leaks at different locations. This fact demonstrates that air leak countermeasures are not a one-time effort but require continuous monitoring and response. Having the visualization camera on hand has enabled the establishment of a system for rapid response to such changes.
Overall Results
Through the comprehensive initiatives from energy visualization to air leak diagnosis and in-house camera adoption, IHI Aioi Plant achieved 5.6 million yen in electricity cost savings from 2022 to 2023.
This achievement is not the result of air leak countermeasures alone, but rather the outcome of comprehensive energy-saving activities based on visualization and analysis of overall energy consumption. However, the identification and repair of air leaks made a significant contribution as a relatively low-cost measure with immediate effect.
IHI Aioi Plant plans to continue and expand these initiatives, further accelerating progress toward carbon neutrality. Regular inspections using the air leak visualization camera have already become an established part of the plant's standard maintenance activities, with continued stable savings expected.