【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】Work began in 2014–2022 on the design of a demonstration project for integrated production, storage, transportation, and utilization of liquid hydrogen in Wuhai

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Happy New Year 2024 **********************【A Decade of Great Development in Chemical Processing Equipment】Ongoing updates and summaries available; feel free to join the discussions at https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum) ***************** On August 25, 2022, the Pipeline Design Institute began work on the design of a demonstration project for integrated production, storage, transportation, and handling of liquid hydrogen in Wuhai. In this project, membrane tanks were used for storing liquid hydrogen for the first time in China. This project is the Pipeline Bureau’s first project for producing hydrogen from coke oven gas, liquefying hydrogen, and constructing liquid hydrogen storage tanks. The Wuhai integrated demonstration project for the production, storage, transportation, and handling of liquid hydrogen plans to install a PSA purification unit capable of producing 2,500 cubic meters per hour of high-purity hydrogen, a hydrogen liquefaction facility with a capacity of 5 tons per day, 1,000 cubic meters of liquid hydrogen storage tanks, as well as processes for loading liquid hydrogen along with related infrastructure. The hydrogen source for this project is the coke oven gas from Qianshan Coal Coking Company of Inner Mongolia Yellow River Industry and Trade Group, with high-purity hydrogen obtained through PSA purification technology. High-purity hydrogen is used as the gas source in the liquefaction unit to liquefy hydrogen, which is then stored in liquid hydrogen tanks and transported via liquid hydrogen tankers. Going forward, the Pipeline Bureau plans to rely on the hydrogen supply provided by the Yellow River Group to build a medium-high pressure hydrogen transport pipeline between Wuhai and Baotou, thereby establishing hydrogen storage and transportation infrastructure in Inner Mongolia. This project will promote the development and utilization of hydrogen resources in Wuhai City, Inner Mongolia, meet the needs for large-scale production, storage, and application of liquid hydrogen, and address the issue of mismatch between hydrogen supply and demand. In recent years, pipeline design institutes have focused on the development of the new energy sector; they have established innovation centers for new energy, set up a sub-center for new energy technologies and equipment within the engineering center dedicated to the safety of oil and gas pipeline transportation, and created experimental platforms for storing pure hydrogen, hydrogen-blended gases, liquid hydrogen, and solid hydrogen, in order to address the technical challenges related to hydrogen storage and transportation. To date, this institute has undertaken over 20 new energy projects, 1 provincial or ministerial-level research project, authored 1 standard for hydrogen transportation, and holds 3 invention patents. Liquid hydrogen is a colorless and odorless high-energy liquid fuel. The storage and transportation of liquid hydrogen offer advantages such as low transportation costs, insensitivity to distance, high hydrogen purity, and ease of measurement. Currently, in domestic liquid hydrogen storage technology, liquid hydrogen is stored in tanks using a high-vacuum multi-layer insulation method, with a maximum capacity of 300 cubic meters. The Wuhai integrated demonstration project for the production, storage, transportation, and handling of liquid hydrogen aims to overcome the key technologies related to liquid hydrogen storage in membrane tanks, and it holds great significance as a model for the utilization of liquid hydrogen.