Concept design of storage systems for large-scale floating liquid hydrogen hub terminal

Abstract

This study proposes the concept design of storage systems for a large-scale Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) hub terminal, which is consist of Cargo Containment System (CCS) and Land Distribution System (LDS). The requirements for the storage systems are large-scale, pressurized, high volume efficiency, and vacuum insulation. Lattice Pressure Vessel (LPV), which is the world first scalable prismatic pressure vessel with a novel vacuum insulation system is adopted to satisfy the requirements. Operation scenarios of the hub terminal are established to obtain thermodynamic results. The scenarios consider LH2 import from a LH2 tanker, storage in the terminal, and distribution to users. Thermodynamic analysis derives the maximum pressure, which results in the design pressure of 300 kPa for the CCS and the LDS. Structural analysis for the tanks is conducted based on international standards of ASME and IMO. Economic analysis is performed to estimate life cycle cost (LCC) of the storage systems, which proves economical than the conventional storage system.