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Shell and Alfa Laval to develop a gas combustion unit for hydrogen boil-off gas
Shell subsidiary Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Alfa Laval regarding the development of a new gas combustion unit (GCU) for use on liquid hydrogen carriers
The project will see Alfa Laval develop a system to safely combust hydrogen boil-off gas (BOG) from a storage tank on board a new liquid hydrogen carrier.
Because the venting of cargo is restricted, a gas combustion unit offers a means of controlling tank pressure and temperature when the boil-off gas poses safety risks beyond the tank’s design conditions.
The design of the new GCU system for hydrogen will be based on Alfa Laval’s existing GCU for LNG. More than 200 of these units have been installed in over a decade, and an additional 100 units have been ordered this year. The challenges in hydrogen combustion, however, are significantly greater than those involved with LNG.
At -253°C, hydrogen has a higher boil-off rate than methane which makes having a GCU or a similar means of boil-off gas handling crucial for hydrogen carriers.
Alfa Laval’s Business Development Manager, David Jung pointed that hydrogen is light and highly flammable.
“Safety will be paramount when transporting it on board, so there are critical safety considerations when designing the GCU system,” he said.
“Renewable hydrogen will likely be a key fuel in tomorrow’s decarbonisation mix, but accessibility will determine its impact,” said Shell’s General Manager of Shipping Technology Carl Henrickson.
At the recent COP27, ten organisations including industry giants MAN Energy Solutions and AP Møller-Maersk signed up to a joint initiative to adopt green hydrogen-based fuels in the shipping sector.
Mr Jung added “Global hydrogen demand is expected to grow many times larger than it is today, and liquid hydrogen carriers at sea will be a vital link in the world’s decarbonised fuel chain.”
Mr Henrickson said “By enabling safe ocean transport of liquid hydrogen, we can help speed up the global transition to clean energy and Shell’s target to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050. Alfa Laval shares our ambition and is our choice of partner.”
Alfa Laval will design and engineer the new GCU for hydrogen with the aim of receiving an approval in principle (AiP) from an IACS classification society. Once the AiP is secured, the company will begin building a GCU prototype for testing and type approval.
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