Argus Media Limited

11/25/2021 | News release | Distributed by Public on 11/25/2021 10:33

Wartsila aims to eliminate hydrogen storage challenge

Finnish marine technology firm Wartsila is looking into hydrogen bunkering technologies that would remove the need for hydrogen storage on ships, using LNG and carbon capture storage.

Green hydrogen is one of several fuels likely to be used to decarbonise shipping. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) currently has a target of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50pc in 2050, compared with 2008.

But hydrogen bunkering presents a storage challenge for a shipowner. It requires an extremely low temperature, near absolute zero, to liquefy and has low energy content per volume, meaning much larger storage tanks are needed onboard.

Wartsila wants to look into the feasibility of producing hydrogen on board a ship, and then using it as a fuel. The ship would bunker LNG, an already-established alternative marine fuel. The LNG would be combined with steam onboard to produce hydrogen and CO2, and the hydrogen could then be burned in a combustion engine or used in a fuel cell. The CO2 would be capture and later disposed of for carbon storage, Wartsila said. This would eliminate the need for hydrogen storage infrastructure on board a vessel, according to the firm.

Wartsila will work alongside shipping classification society Rina, Swedish industrial firm ABB, Greek hydrogen technology company Helbio, the Liberian Registry and an unnamed energy major.

Wartsila and ABB will work on using hydrogen in an engine or a fuel cell, while Helbio will provide the gas reformers. Rina and the Liberian Registry will work on rules and regulations for the new technology.

The storage difficulties associated with hydrogen mean its main role in decarbonising shipping could be limited to feedstock for green ammonia, which is produced when green hydrogen is combined with nitrogen.

On top of the technical challenges of using hydrogen as a marine fuel, cost and availability are a major hurdle. No ships are currently running on hydrogen.

By George Collard