Posted on 02 Aug 2024
Japanese firms JFE, JFE Steel and Japan Suiso Energy (JSE) announced they have decided to land JSE's liquified hydrogen supply chain commercialisation demonstration project on the Ohgishima Island in Japan and are leasing land there.
They plan to complete facility construction in fiscal 2028, receive a liquefied hydrogen carrier in fiscal 2029, and complete the demonstration and start to supply hydrogen commercially in fiscal 2030, Kallanish Power Materials learns.
A reclaimed island in Tokyo Bay, Ohgishima has a superior location to meet hydrogen demand between Tokyo and Yokohama. In the Keihin Industrial Zone where it is located, JFE Steel also has the Keihin facility of its East Japan Works.
Previously, JFE has agreed to suspend blast furnace operations and other upstream processes at this Keihin facility and to help reach sustainable development of the area and contribute to carbon-neutrality initiatives in Japan. JFE and the city of Kawasaki (the city Ohgishima Island belongs to) also agreed to improve transportation access and facilities for liquefied-hydrogen tankers.
The project also aims to reduce the large-scale supply cost for hydrogen. In order to be competitive against fossil fuels, the price needs to fall at JPY 20 ($0.13)/normal cubic metre or below. They aim to reach this target by 2050.
The hydrogenation - storage and transportation - dehydrogenation cycle the companies designed integrates the oil and gas industry with the hydrogen industry. At the hydrogenation plant, toluene is used to react with hydrogen to produce methylcyclohexane (MCH), a major component of gasoline. MCH and toluene have high boiling temperatures (over 100 Celsius), which makes them less volatile and safer to handle at normal temperatures and pressures. MCH has a volume of 1/500 of hydrogen gas, making the storage much more economic. At the dehydrogenation plant, MCH splits to toluene and hydrogen. The hydrogen is supplied downstream, and the toluene can be recycled or sold locally.
Currently, the companies are developing innovative liquefaction and direct MCH electrolytic synthesis technologies. Moreover, the project will implement demonstrations of hydrogen power generation at multiple actual power plants along with co-combustion with other fuels or single-fuel combustion using hydrogen only.
Source:Kallanish Power Materials
