NEDO entrusts Kobe Steel with technology development to improve the efficiency and performance of the hydrogen fuel supply system in a hydrogen CGS regional model as part of the Technology Development Project for Creating a Hydrogen Society

Kobe Steel, Ltd. announces that it completed the demonstration test of the intermediate fluid vaporizer (IFV) for liquid hydrogen at an operating pressure of 1 MPa or less at the end of March as scheduled. This demonstration test was carried out in “the development of an intermediate fluid vaporizer for liquid hydrogen that enables the use of liquid hydrogen cold energy”^*1, which was adopted in March 2022 by NEDO as part of the Technology Development Project for Large-Scale Utilization of Hydrogen for the Technology Development Project for Creating a Hydrogen Society.

To realize a larger liquid hydrogen vaporizer^*2, which will be required for the demonstration of gas turbine capable of hydrogen co-firing and single-fuel firing toward hydrogen power commercialization projected for 2030, we have employed a cold energy recovery-type liquid hydrogen vaporizer that reduces CO₂ emissions in the form of cold energy recovery, which was developed by Kobe Steel utilizing its proven technologies and experience of the Intermediate Fluid Vaporizer (IFV)^*3 for liquefied natural gas. In this demonstration test, it was confirmed the feasibility of a practical-scale vaporizer that achieves stable vaporization performance and cold energy recovery for the first time in the world.

For identification and verification of issues that would arise under a wide range of operating pressures, we need to confirm the heat transfer behavior and vaporization performance of the liquid hydrogen vaporizer above the critical pressure required for hydrogen power generation (approximately 1.3 MPa), by comparing with the heat transfer data below the critical pressure obtained by this project. For this purpose, Kobe Steel and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. jointly submitted a plan for the technology development for higher efficiency, advanced hydrogen fuel supply system in a hydrogen CGS regional model to NEDO fiscal 2023 first public call for proposals for the Regional Model Building Technology Development as part of the Development of Technologies for Realizing a Hydrogen Society, Development of Technologies for Regional Hydrogen Utilization, and it was adopted by NEDO in June 2023 with an implementation period set for fiscal 2023–2024.

In this newly adopted project, we plan to conduct the demonstration of cold energy recovery and verification of the cold energy recovery performance of the liquid hydrogen vaporizer in actual power generation facilities by applying an intermediate fluid-type liquid hydrogen vaporizer to the hydrogen gas turbine cogeneration system (hydrogen CGS) demonstration facilities installed at Port Island, Kobe, Japan through the Smart Community Technology Development Project Utilizing Hydrogen Cogeneration Systems, implemented from fiscal 2015–2018 in the Technology Development Project for Large-Scale Utilization of Hydrogen as part of the NEDO grant project Technology Development Project for Creating a Hydrogen Society.

We will continue to work on the development and demonstration of vaporizers, which are essential for the commercialization of hydrogen power and contribute to building a hydrogen society.