[Safety4sea/ January 14, 2025] HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., (HD KSOE) announced on 14 January that it obtained approval in principle (AiP) for its vacuum insulation technology for liquefied hydrogen storage tanks.

The approval was granted by four major international classification societies including Lloyd’s Register (LR), the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and the Korean Register (KR). The successful testing of a large-scale vacuum chamber for this AiP also marked the world’s first technical validation of large-scale LH₂ tank insulation design.

The vacuum insulation system addresses some of the most pressing challenges of using hydrogen in the maritime industry, the scalability of liquefied hydrogen storage and transportation of the fuel.

Moreover, storing liquid hydrogen at -253°C while minimising boil-off gas requires vacuum-insulated tanks similar to thermos flasks, but achieving this on a large scale in ships is technically unproven. For example, NASA’s largest existing LH₂ tank holds 5,000 m³, yet ship-based applications may require tanks over four times larger.

This hydrogen vacuum system solution and large-scale validation test are part of these efforts. Global hydrogen industry participants, including Woodside Energy, Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), and Hyundai Glovis, contributed to the design development and validation.

The system and test results were shared with these companies and international classification societies, including LR, who confirmed a significant reduction in vacuum time in shipyards.

In collaboration with HD KSOE, LR undertook design assessments and performance verifications of the soft vacuum insulation system, in line with its classification rules and international standards for gas ships.