HORIBA India’s new collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) raises the stakes for homegrown research aimed at decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors.
Through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), HORIBA is supporting three technical R&D projects, including the development of a proton-conducting solid oxide electrolysis cell (H-SOEC) designed for intermediate-temperature green hydrogen generation.
Among the trio of research initiatives, the H-SOEC project is particularly aligned with India’s push toward green hydrogen infrastructure. Led by Prof. Suddhasatwa Basu of the Department of Chemical Engineering, the project focuses on developing a solid oxide electrolysis cell that operates efficiently at intermediate temperatures. This could potentially overcome durability and efficiency trade-offs associated with conventional high-temperature SOECs, which often suffer from degradation issues over prolonged operation.
While current commercial electrolysers—primarily alkaline and PEM types—dominate India’s early-stage market deployments, they come with limitations in efficiency and capital cost. The promise of H-SOEC technology lies in its higher electrical efficiency and potential to integrate with industrial waste heat streams, making it suitable for large-scale, cost-effective hydrogen production. Yet, despite its theoretical advantages, H-SOECs remain largely confined to academic research and small-scale pilots worldwide. HORIBA’s backing could accelerate progress toward scalable Indian prototypes, although timelines and commercialization pathways remain undefined.
The second project targets another critical supply-chain vulnerability: rare-earth dependency in electric vehicle (EV) motors. As global automakers seek alternatives to neodymium and dysprosium—both dominated by Chinese supply—HORIBA and IIT Delhi are exploring a reduced rare-earth magnet-based EV motor that maintains high torque density while lowering material costs and geopolitical exposure.
The project, led by Dr. Sagar Sarkar of the Mechanical Engineering Department, seeks to balance magnetic performance with manufacturability, likely leveraging advanced simulation tools and additive manufacturing techniques. If successful, the design could complement India’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for EV components, which aims to localize high-value motor technologies. Still, the technical challenges—particularly in thermal management and torque ripple control—are substantial, and commercial viability hinges on more than magnet substitution alone.
IIT Delhi, for its part, benefits from a more structured pipeline of applied research funding and potential industrial pathways for academic discoveries.
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