(Credit: Hyundai Heavy Industries)Hyundai Heavy Industries Group has succeeded in developing Korea’s first LNG/hydrogen ‘mixed-firing engine’ (HiMSEN). On December 22nd, Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Hyundai Heavy Industries announced that the '1.5MW class HiMSEN developed with their own technology had successfully completed performance verification.
The LNG/Hydrogen hybrid engine is a green engine that uses a combination of diesel fuel and LNG/hydrogen mixture fuel to selectively minimize emissions of different harmful exhaust gases, including sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, and fine dust.
In a performance test, the engine achieved Tier 3, the highest grade possible under the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) nitrogen oxide standards. It demonstrated how effectively it reduced carbon dioxide and methane slip (methane released before full combustion).
The LNG/hydrogen hybrid engine's range of use is not restricted to just ships. In comparison to small-scale land-based hydrogen fuel cells, the LNG-hydrogen hybrid engine has a longer lifespan and exceptional load-following capability, which adjusts power generation output in response to variations in electrical load. The engine is slated to be used in distributed generating and small-scale land-based power generation.
The first hydrogen-fueled commercial marine vessel was successfully completed on November 18, 2021, at All American Marine shipyard.
Nuvera Fuel Cells and H2Boat are also working together to develop a hydrogen-based zero-emission energy system for marine vessel uses as they look to add more sustainability to the industry.
In November of last year, Shell and GE Gas Power announced a partnership to study potential processes to reduce the carbon emissions of Shell’s liquified natural gas (LNG) supply projects. The largest source of emissions in LNG facilities comes from firing natural gas in turbines, and one of the possible paths the companies say they are targeting is to use hydrogen instead in the engines.
According to Grahaeme Henderson, former global head of shipping & maritime at Shell, "Our modeling shows that the fastest pathway to net-zero, with the lowest total emissions, is the accelerated adoption of LNG, combined with widespread use of energy efficient technologies, while developing fuel cells ready to transition directly to zero emission fuels in the future. I want to look at the important role LNG can play in driving decarbonization and aiding the transition to future fuels. There has been much discussion on this topic in the last week with two new reports, from the World Bank and Sphera highlighting some of the opportunities and challenges of an LNG pathway."
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