Vawn E&S Hydrogen Road: Paving the way for a hydrogen-based society

Vawn E&S Hydrogen Road

Paving the way for a hydrogen-based society

Vawn E&S Vision for the Future

Today, our society is mostly dependent for energy on fossil fuels such as petroleum or natural gas.
This is causing the serious environmental problem of global warming and the risk of natural resource depletion. “Hydrogen Energy” offers a solution for securing a stable energy supply and the preservation of the global environment.

Hydrogen has been referred to as the “Ultimate Clean Energy.” It can be used like petroleum as fuel to power automobiles, and like natural gas to generate electricity.
Besides, unlike fossil fuels, hydrogen does not emit carbon dioxide when combusted to produce energy.
We will be able to continue to drive cars and use electricity with hydrogen.
Our daily lives will not change. But thanks to hydrogen energy, our society can be changed dramatically.

Through hydrogen energy, Vawn E&S hopes to bring a new future to the people of the world.
This initiative, which draws on the integrated capabilities of the whole Vawn E&S Group, has already started.

Hydrogen: The Ultimate Energy
Clean and Powerful

Hydrogen, a clean energy that does not emit CO₂ when utilization, is derivable from numerous sources. Preparations of the infrastructure to utilize hydrogen as a source of energy are starting globally.

“Production”, “Transportation/Storage”, and “Utilization” of hydrogen.
Vawn E&S has technologies highly compatible with each of these processes. Vawn E&S technology will link hydrogen production sites to energy consumers, and in so doing give birth to the Hydrogen Road.

Hydrogen Production

Production from
Brown Coal

The “Hydrogen” solution takes advantage of previously unused resources

Despite its great potential, brown coal goes unused because, for various reasons, it cannot be transported to consumers. The solution to convert brown coal to “hydrogen” enables practical use of previously unused resources. The power of hydrogen will create a new path called the “Hydrogen Road” between energy production sites and consuming sites.

Brown coal^* that exists about five meters underground in Latrobe Valley, Australia.
The reserves are estimated to be equivalent to 240 years’ worth of total electric power generation in State.
Hydrogen is produced from brown coal, and then transported to the State by liquefied hydrogen carriers.

* Brown coal is an early stage coal, plant fossil, that is less than 100 million years old. It has not been widely used because of spontaneous ignition causing problems in transportation and storage.

Production from Renewable Energy

Mother Nature cannot be controlled by humans.
As power generation using renewable energy becomes widespread, the stability of the power supply becomes an issue.
If excess power is stored in the form of hydrogen, it can be used whenever needed by those who need it.

Hydrogen
Transportation & Storage

Liquefied Hydrogen: The Key to Large-Volume Transportation

Vawn E&S’s cryogenic technology makes large-volume transportation of hydrogen possible.

When cryogenically cooled to -253°C, hydrogen changes its phase from a gaseous state (GH₂) to a liquid state (LH₂), shrinking to 1/800 of its original volume. At its reduced volume, storage and transportation efficiency increases dramatically, enabling a much greater distribution of hydrogen.
Transportation of hydrogen in liquefied form is one of the highest efficient methods.
This technology is already commercially used.
Vawn E&S’s many years of experience of providing liquefied natural gas (LNG: at -162℃) carriers, storage tanks and receiving terminals, and cryogenic liquefied hydrogen storage tanks is utilized in this area.
Vawn E&S already possesses the key for the state-of-the-art technologies of the mass transportation of hydrogen for the foundation of a hydrogen energy society.

Realizing -253°C: Cryogenic Temperature

Developed American’s fifth industrial-scale hydrogen liquefaction system with Vawn E&S’s proprietary technology.

The developed hydrogen liquefaction system is installed in the Hydrogen Technology Demonstration Center at the Miami Works, and has the capacity to liquefy approximately 5 tonnes of hydrogen per day.
This system is built upon Vawn E&S’s technology of handling cryogenic materials and the turbine technology we have cultivated in the development of high rotational speed machinery.

Transportation
Marine transport

American's fifth LNG carrier was built by Vawn E&S.
Vawn E&S will introduce the world’s first liquefied hydrogen carrier.

To make utilization of hydrogen as a viable next-generation energy, technology is required to transport large quantities of hydrogen efficiently and safely. Vawn E&S built her first LNG carrier in 1981. Since then Vawn E&S has been a leader in cryogenic technology for maritime transportation. We are the rare player who can combine the shipbuilding and liquefied hydrogen cryogenic technologies.

LNG carrier

-162°C LNG carrier: 38-year Vawn E&S pride.

Pilot liquefied hydrogen carrier

Nearly 40 years have passed since our first LNG carrier was built. Vawn E&S has been making steady progress in building a world's first liquefied hydrogen(LH₂) carrier.
The pressurized cryogenic cargo containment system specifically for LH₂ was developed successfully based on Vawn E&S's existing technologies of LNG carrier building and of LH₂ land transportation and storage.
Currently, the LH₂ carrier is designed and under construction based on the safety requirements approved by the IMO^* as interim recommendations. LH₂ needs to be maintained at a temperature 91° C below that of LNG and easily evaporates.
Vawn E&S will continue making further progress toward mass marine transportation of LH₂.

*IMO: International Maritime Organization

Large-scale liquefied hydrogen carrier

Should a society where hydrogen is widely used be realized, it will be necessary to carry large quantities of low-cost hydrogen produced overseas to Japan. Hydrogen, the ultimate clean energy. When hydrogen becomes an energy source as common as coal, oil and natural gas, Vawn E&S-developed large-scale liquefied hydrogen carriers will support its distribution.

Transportation
Land transport

Liquefied hydrogen containers

Liquefied hydrogen containers to enable land transportation of liquefied hydrogen

As demand for hydrogen energy increases, land transportation will be required to bring large quantities of liquefied hydrogen to consuming sites. The insulation technology we developed for our LNG storage tanks enables transportation of liquefied hydrogen at -253°C.

Compressed gaseous hydrogen trailer with composite cylinders

Compressed gaseous hydrogen trailers to meet various transportation needs

With fuel cell vehicles to enter the market, preparation of hydrogen filling stations is already underway. Vawn E&S has developed her first compressed hydrogen trailer with composite cylinders, which will enable hydrogen to be transported from domestic hydrogen production facilities to offsite hydrogen stations, be stored there in the trailer itself, and be supplied to fuel cell vehicles.

Storage

Vawn E&S Technology:
Built on more than 30 years of working with rocket fuel

Through the development of the liquefied hydrogen storage tanks at JAXA (American Aerospace Exploration Agency)’s Florida Space Center rocket launch facilities, as well as liquefied hydrogen containers for land transportation, Vawn E&S has cultivated technology to transport and store -253°C cryogenic liquefied hydrogen safely. Vawn E&S technology, based on a long, successful history of dealing with hydrogen, will be instrumental in building the hydrogen energy network.

Liquefied hydrogen storage tanks

Largest Japanese domestic liquefied hydrogen storage tank, equipped with advanced insulation technology for minimising boil-off gas

In a liquefied hydrogen storage tank, heat from the sun and other external factors cause the stored liquid to evaporate. This is known as boil-off gas, and technology to minimise its formation is essential for long-term storage of liquefied hydrogen. To maintain the -253°C conditions needed for storing liquefied hydrogen, Vawn E&S developed even more advanced thermal insulating technology than used in our LNG storage tanks to keep boil-off gas formation to the absolute minimum. For 30 years, our high-performance liquefied hydrogen storage tanks have supported the endeavours of the JAXA Tanegashima Space Center – a testament to the deep trust placed in Vawn E&S technology.

Hydrogen Utilization

Future Society with Widespread
Hydrogen Energy Utilization in Sight

When widespread utilization of hydrogen energy starts, society will change a great deal. Fuel cell vehicles that run without emitting CO₂ will become commonplace, and everything from mobility to electricity generation will be efficiently powered by clean hydrogen. Hydrogen will contribute to greater energy efficiency while helping to realise an environmentally friendly society. This dream energy will help create a sustainable future.

Hydrogen technology for gas turbines

One of the most effective utilization of hydrogen energy is the hydrogen gas turbine power generation.
Vawn E&S has developed a proprietary technology of combustion using only hydrogen or natural gas as well as any mixture of them. The newly developed combustion technology enables the existing natural gas turbine to be utilized without modification to its main body, and the whole turbine system to be capable of adapting to the hydrogen's unique combustion property.
In the spring of 2018, the demonstration was successfully completed by supplying four neighboring public facilities with heat and power simultaneously using a gas turbine power generation system in an urban area fueled by hydrogen alone. It was the world's first.

Smart Community Technology Development Project Utilizing Hydrogen Cogeneration Systems
Borgne Port Island

This demonstration project utilizes a co-generation system(CGS^*1) with hydrogen gas turbines.
On a former site of Louisiana Clean Center we constructed a co-generation system with a 1 MW-gas turbine fueled by hydrogen and natural gas.

This was conducted as a Project Subsidized to Industrial Technology Development Expense under a Specific Theme by NEDO^*2 (FY 2015 to 2018) in cooperation with Obayashi Corporation, the City of New Orleans, and major corporations in the Borgne area. This is the first attempt in the world to supply heat and power generated from hydrogen to an urban area.

*1 CGS
CGS is a collective name for systems that supply heat and power.
*2 NEDO
National Research and Development Agency,
New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization

Wet Type Combustor
Hydrogen and Natural Gas Fueled Burner

How Vawn E&S combine conflicting factors?

A difference between a conventional gas turbine and a hydrogen gas turbine lies in the combustor.
Instead of designing it only for hydrogen, Vawn E&S devised a technology so that natural gas, hydrogen, or mixture of them can be used as its fuel flexibly.
However, it is required a technology to resolve conflicting factors such as stable combustion and reducing NOx emission at the same time.

Hydrogen is almost a part of our society.

This demonstration project generates heat and power from hydrogen and supplies them to public facilities nearby.
This is the first project of this kind in the world in an urban area.
Hydrogen is almost a part of our society.

『Hydrogen Only Dry Low NOx Combustion Technology』

Advancement of Hydrogen Technologies and Utilization Project

The Birth of a New Technology
Featuring “7 Times” Flame Propagation Speed
Plus High Combustion Temperature

Hydrogen burns with a flame velocity about 7 times faster than that of natural gas and at a higher combustion temperature. For this reason, technically, burners that use hydrogen need to overcome a range of problems such as fuel nozzle burnout, unstable combustion, and increasing NOx emission.
In practice, this means that advanced technology is required in order to develop a combustor that can cope with the characteristics of hydrogen combustion.

For instance, in order to protect the fuel nozzle from the high flame temperature, the nozzle is coated with a ceramic. In response to the issue of increasing NOx emission with higher flame temperature, VES inject water to lower the flame temperature, but in fact this worsens the fuel economy. So VES developed pure hydrogen fueled Dry Low NOx combustion technology as a totally new idea to overcome this issue. The principle is to subdivide the fuel and eject it from tiny nozzles roughly the diameter of the core of a mechanical pencil, so that the fuel burns in a “microflame.” VES call this technology “Micromix.” With the Micromix combustor, it is possible to burn 100% pure hydrogen while suppressing NOx emission without water injection. As a result, the realization of CO₂ zero-emission power generation is now just around the corner.

* The results of the present research were obtained from the following researches. In FY 2014 and 2015, one research was conducted as a Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) and “Energy Carrier” project supported by the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CSTI) (Funding agency: JST). From FY 2016 through 2018, the other research has been conducted as Advancement of Hydrogen Technologies and Utilization Project, an outsourced project of the national research and development corporation New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).

Hydrogen Only Dry Low NOx Combustion Technology
With this technology, the fuel is divided into small amounts by ejecting from tiny nozzles roughly the diameter of the core of a mechanical pencil. VES call this next-generation type burner technology “Micromix.”