Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) has joined a wide-ranging corporate-academic partnership in a zero-emission initiative called the “Wind Hunter Project,” seeking new applications for hydrogen fuel and wind power with the aim of converting oceangoing cargo ships from dirty old bunker fuel to clean power.
The Wind Hunter Project is the ultimate zero emission driving project, which combines wind propulsion sailing technology and wind energy converted to generate a stable supply of hydrogen.
The project team aims to give a new and first step to realize a decarbonized and hydrogen society.
MOL is currently working on the “Wind Challenger Project (Note 1)” to develop sailing technology. The Wind Hunter Project applies this sail technology and combines hydrogen carriers and fuel cells with hydrogen generated by electrolyzer where the power is generated by power generation turbine.
This combination of sail and hydrogen technology will enable vessels to sail on schedule even in the periods of low wind and the project team plans to study about the application of supplying hydrogen generated at sea for onshore use.
One of the complications of this project is how to store the hydrogen. Typically, hydrogen gas is compressed into specialized tanks.
The Wind Hunter Project seems to address this by a space reserved for a “Hydrogen Storage Alloy.” That could refer to an aluminum alloy, which various researchers in Japan and elsewhere have been working on for quite some time.
Both of these applications are aimed at creating a zero-emission business free of any greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
This is an Agency Feed ; edited by Clean-Future Team