A renowned maritime classification body, DNV, has given CB&I, McDermott’s storage division, Approval in Principle (AiP) for its design of a liquid hydrogen (LH2) cargo containment system.
To enable hydrogen energy supply chains, CB&I and Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (Shell) worked together to create secure LH2 shipping options.
The AiP attests that the containment system complies with all relevant safety regulations. There are several of these, including class rules, the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk (IGC Code), and the Interim Recommendations for Carrying of Liquefied Hydrogen in Bulk, Resolution MSC.420(97), published by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). As a crucial step in the AiP process, a Hazard Identification (HAZID) risk assessment was completed to make sure that the dangers and unknowns related to the containment system were recognized and addressed.
Containment system design
The vacuum-insulated spherical technology developed by CB&I for onshore LH2 storage is the foundation of the containment system design. With predicted boiloff rates of less than 0.1% per day for small tanks and less than 0.05% per day for large tanks, CB&I anticipates the design to be scaleable to 40,000 m3 per tank.
By utilizing the characteristics of LH2 and increasing the amount of energy on board, the combined cargo containment system and hull design effort intends to address the energy density difficulty. The concept vessel design created by Houlder included the cargo confinement system and a hull that is best suited for the low-density cargo surrounding the three huge tanks.
