At the Dutch yacht building company Feadship, the world’s first megayacht with a hydrogen fuel cell is being built. MAN Cryo has delivered the liquid-hydrogen gas-fuel supply system.
The 118.8 m superyacht, known as “Project 821,” is the world’s first hydrogen fuel-cell superyacht. MAN Cryo’s fuel-gas system will store the hydrogen in liquid form, evaporate and heat it, and supply gaseous hydrogen to the fuel cell, enabling the zero-emission propulsion of the vessel. The company is a division of MAN Energy Solutions, focusing on engineering solutions for cryogenic equipment for the storage, distribution, and handling of gases
Although hydrogen fuel-cells have existed commercially for over six decades, no solution had previously been available within the maritime sector, MAN Cryo says. Project 821’s fuel-cell technology can provide an entire week’s worth of silent operation at anchor, or emission-free navigation at 10 knots when departing harbours or cruising in protected marine zones with pure water being the only emission.
No design codes, no standards – a challenging project for MAN Cryo
MAN Cryo faced a number of challenges during the project, in great part owing to the lack of existing design codes and standards to follow in order to get approval for its tank design. Normally, type C LNG tanks are designed according to IGF code, but this is not fully applicable to hydrogen.
Instead, MAN Cryo approached Lloyd’s Register with a risk-assessment-based design that is considered safe and approved for placement below deck, a first of its kind in the world and just the second ever for a marine liquid-hydrogen project.
Sofia Liedholm, Project Manager – MAN Cryo, said: “The alternative design-approval process proved challenging from time to time but – thanks to good cooperation between MAN Cryo, Lloyd’s Register and Feadship – we managed to successfully resolve all issues. MAN Cryo is a frontrunner when it comes to marine fuel systems and, from this project, we now have further knowledge to bring with us into whatever the next opportunity will be to develop a more sustainable marine sector.”
