Brief Review and Technical Insight of Liquefied Hydrogen Carriers Development

Countries worldwide are shifting to a hydrogen economy in response to stringent environmental regulations, and hydrogen transport between countries is expected to increase in the medium to long term. Although hydrogen is traded between countries in different forms such as ammonia, liquid hydrogen, and methanol, from the perspective of volume density and production/demand area without a separate process, the transportation of hydrogen in liquid form is the potential way for large-scale transportation of hydrogen in the future. This article aims to highlight the opportunities and challenges technical for the ocean-going liquid hydrogen carriers. An overview of development state-of-the-art and key technical challenges of liquid hydrogen carrier ships are summarized, including regulation, the cargo containment structure and insulation, boil off ratio (BOR) evaluation, boil-off gas (BOG) handling system and propulsion system. Finally, detailed technical route of the key technology required by future liquid hydrogen carrier is extrapolated, and securing a possible design through various technological alternatives.