Japanese companies demonstrate low-carbon hydrogen supply chain

In Tomiya City, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, a consortium comprised of Hitachi Ltd., Marubeni Corporation, Miyagi Consumer’s Co-operative Society, and Tomiya City has demonstrated a low carbon hydrogen supply chain.

Growing hydrogen, using hydrogen in a pure hydrogen fuel cell for power generation, and using hydrogen in a Hydrogen Mixed Diesel Generator were all part of the demonstration projects (HDMG).

The project is funded by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment and is called the “FY2017 Low Carbon Hydrogen Technology Demonstration Project in Collaboration with Local Government.”

Solar energy was used to generate hydrogen by electrolysis. Miyagi COOP’s current distribution network then delivers the hydrogen to selected end-users, such as homes, stores, and a kids club. After that, the hydrogen was put into pure hydrogen fuel cells, where it was transformed into electricity and heat.

Over the course of three years, the demonstration resulted in a reduction of 0.8 tonnes of CO2 emissions per house. These facilities have provided useful operational data as a result of the demonstration project.

Additionally, an HDMG was mounted and worked during the demonstration to ensure a steady electricity supply during a power outage. Hitachi and Denyo Co., Ltd. collaborated on the HDMG, which was built at Miyagi COOP’s logistics center to generate electricity using hydrogen. To produce electricity with a diesel engine generator, the HDMG used hydrogen blended with straight vegetable oil (SVO) and light oil in a variable ratio. In its shop, Miyagi COOP manufactured SVO (raw vegetable oil (waste cooking oil with impurities removed).

During a power outage, the HDMG demonstration demonstrated that power can be produced from stored hydrogen and SVO. Also hydrogen can be generated using solar energy and then supplied to HDMG for use as a power source. Furthermore, while high hydrogen purity is needed for HDMG, it is not required for fuel cell service. Furthermore, the HDMG can generate electricity without hydrogen using either heavy or light oil, and increasing the hydrogen co-firing rate increases power generation performance.