HD Hyundai Secures Production and Vacuum Insulation Technology for Shipborne Liquefied Hydrogen Tanks

HD Hyundai has succeeded in developing liquefied hydrogen tank manufacturing and vacuum insulation technology for ships.

HD Hyundai's shipbuilding division holding company, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, announced on the 14th that it recently obtained the 'Approval in Principle (AIP) for vacuum insulation technology of liquefied hydrogen tanks' from four classification societies belonging to the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS): Lloyd's Register (LR), American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Det Norske Veritas (DNV), and Korean Register (KR).

Perspective view of a large liquefied hydrogen carrier. Provided by HD Hyundai

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In December last year, it also received approval for the 'Welding Procedure Specification (WPS) for manufacturing liquefied hydrogen tanks for ships' from DNV, making HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering the first in Korea to secure all aspects of material selection, verification, and welding technology for shipboard liquefied hydrogen tanks.

Hydrogen is considered a representative future clean energy source, but commercialization has faced difficulties due to the lack of design and manufacturing technology for large liquefied hydrogen storage tanks for ships. Above all, manufacturing liquefied hydrogen tanks requires standardized welding procedures and evaluation criteria using special materials, but there were no regulations regarding this.

To address this, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering signed a Joint Development Project (JDP) with DNV in August last year and began establishing detailed standards for manufacturing liquefied hydrogen tanks for ships, creating standard welding procedures and evaluation items to obtain classification society approval.

They also succeeded in independently developing vacuum insulation technology. When applying the newly developed vacuum insulation technology by HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, the insulation space of the liquefied hydrogen tank can be maintained in a vacuum state even under the ultra-low temperature environment of -253°C during ship operation.

An official from HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering stated, "We will lead the development of hydrogen transportation and storage technology via the sea to accelerate commercialization."

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