Large LH2 tanker designs could involve some rocket science

Written by Nick Blenkey
Tanks like those used by NASA could be key to LH2 carrier design

Image: NASA

Giant spherical liquid hydrogen (LH2) tanks like those used by NASA to fuel rocket launches could hold the key to the design of a new generation of LH2 carrier vessels.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering has signed a memorandum with Houston-headquartered McDermott’s CB&I business unit for a feasibility study of a large liquid hydrogen (LH2) carrier including an LH2 storage tank design. CB&I is the supplier of the LH2 storage tanks used by NASA and the MOU will see it evaluate its design for ocean-going ships. DSME will investigate and develop the ship’s general design to install the LH2 storage tank. The output of the feasibility study is expected to contribute to the future design of a large-scale LH2 carrier.

“The development of LH2 storage for ocean-bound vessels is essential to South Korea’s focus on a carbon-neutral environment,” said Cesar Canals, senior vice president at CB&I. “Our expertise in designing and building field-erected pressure spheres for LH2 storage is a perfect combination with DSME’s technical excellence.”

CB&I spheres can store LH2 at temperatures of minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit, and the company is nearing completion of the world’s largest LH2 sphere for NASA in Cape Canaveral, Fla. It will have an outer diameter of 83 feet and will hold 1,250,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen.

CB&I’s history in this field goes back more than 60 years.

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