South Korean shipbuilders bet big on green fuels

1.5-MW HiMSEN engine of LNG/hydrogen dual fuel [Source : HD Hyundai]

South Korea’s big three shipyards are accelerating their efforts to build green ships using eco-friendly fuels amid the migration to carbon neutrality worldwide.

According to the shipbuilding industry on Tuesday, the profitability of eco-friendly vessels under construction is up to 1.5 times higher than that of their traditional counterparts thanks to green fuels.

HD Hyundai, Korea’s largest shipbuilding group, is leading a new trend of hydrogen fuels after it has recently succeeded in developing the country’s first marine engine that uses a blended fuel of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen with its core technology. It has completed a performance testing for its 1.5-MW HiMSEN engine of LNG/hydrogen dual fuel.

The engine ensures less toxic gas emissions, such as sulfur oxides, carbon dioxide, and particle matter, because it can use diesel or LNG/hydrogen dual fuel selectively. The industry expects this will open the era of hydrogen engine-powered ships.

When it is used in liquid hydrogen-powered ships, it is expected to minimize the loss of hydrogen by reusing evaporated hydrogen emissions in ship operation.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has recently completed the safety evaluation of a facility that will be used to develop a very large crude carrier running on ammonia (NH3) propulsion. The shipbuilder is committed to developing greener ships with its three energy-saving technologies that allows reuse of energy generated by an engine‘s rotational power, a new Air Lubrication system and a rotor sail system.

Especially, its rotor sail system uses the force of wind and column rotation to generate power. A DSME official said that the engine’s rotational power and air lubrication system will enable a ship to save fuel by about 5 percent. Additional 5 percent will be saved if a rotor motor is added. That is equivalent to energy saving up to 5 billion won ($3.91 million) a year per ship.

Samsung Heavy Industries Co. has recently obtained Approval in Principle, from the international classification society Korean Register (KR), for a new ammonia propulsion carrier.

The shipbuilding industry expects orders for eco-friendly ships will increase due to the International Marine Organization’s (IMO) stricter regulations on vessel carbon emissions. Green vessels are expected to be a mainstream.