Milestone: CIMC Enric’s First Commercial Liquid Hydrogen Spherical Tank in China Officially Commences Construction
21 Mar,2024
Near On [date], Zhangjiagang, a unit under the Liquid Hydrogen Business Division of CIMC Enric, which is part of CIMC Anruike. Designed and developed by CIMC Sanctum Low-Temperature Equipment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “CIMC Sanctum”) China’s first commercial liquid hydrogen spherical tank has officially broken ground in Fuyang, Anhui Province. This milestone project marks another critical step forward for CIMC Enric in the field of liquid hydrogen storage and transportation equipment, laying a solid foundation for the rapid development of China’s hydrogen energy industry.
Groundbreaking Ceremony for CIMC Sanctum’s First Commercial Liquid Hydrogen Spherical Tank in China
Overcoming Multiple Key Technological Challenges
Liquid hydrogen storage and transportation technology is one of the core enabling technologies underpinning national strategic competition worldwide and is classified as a “chokepoint” strategic emerging industry technology. Due to its extremely low boiling point, liquid hydrogen storage places stringent demands on the reliability of equipment. Achieving the commercialization of liquid hydrogen spherical tanks has been a critical research challenge that China has urgently sought to address for many years; therefore, the successful development of the first commercially viable liquid hydrogen spherical tank represents a milestone and carries profound social value.
According to reports, the liquid-hydrogen spherical tank in this project is a double-walled, vacuum-insulated spherical vessel with a total volume of 400 cubic meters and a liquid-hydrogen storage capacity of more than 25 metric tons. It is one of the core pieces of equipment under the key special project “Research on Key Equipment and Safety for Liquid-Hydrogen Production, Storage, Transportation, and Refueling” within the National Key R&D Program’s priority area of “Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Energy Technologies.” Given liquid hydrogen’s extreme cryogenic nature, its highly volatile tendency, and its strong permeability and diffusivity, the requirements for storage and transportation equipment are exceptionally stringent. To ensure the successful commencement of construction on China’s first liquid-hydrogen spherical tank, CIMC Enric has systematically overcome numerous technical challenges, including material selection for ultra-low-temperature environments, cryogenic welding, structural and insulation design under large temperature differentials, thermal-insulation wrapping under harsh on-site construction conditions, and the achievement and long-term maintenance of high vacuum.
Compared with stationary vacuum-insulated liquid-hydrogen storage tanks manufactured in factories, liquid-hydrogen spherical tanks can be constructed on-site, making it easier to scale up their capacity. This reduces the number of on-site storage vessels required, lowers overall construction costs, and offers advantages such as large storage capacity and high storage efficiency. As a result, they can meet the demands of large-scale liquid-hydrogen storage and supply, finding applications in liquid-hydrogen production plants, large-scale liquid-hydrogen reserve stations, and long-distance maritime transport, while serving customers across industries such as the energy sector, chemical synthesis, and metallurgy. Consequently, commercial liquid-hydrogen spherical tanks are indispensable core equipment for achieving large-scale hydrogen storage and supply, and they constitute a critical link in the large-scale commercial hydrogen value chain.
Actively advance the hydrogen energy development plan.
Previously, CIMC Enric, leveraging its outstanding technological capabilities and innovative spirit, successfully obtained the nation’s first enterprise standard for “Vacuum-Insulated Liquid Hydrogen Spherical Storage Tanks,” which was filed and approved by the Subtechnical Committee on Cryogenic Vessels of the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Boilers and Pressure Vessels, as well as the conformity review of its liquid hydrogen spherical tank product design. As a result, CIMC Enric became the first company to receive this prestigious recognition, thereby laying a solid foundation for the smooth implementation of commercial liquid hydrogen spherical tank projects.
As global demand for clean energy continues to rise, hydrogen energy—characterized by its high efficiency, environmental friendliness, and renewability—is seeing its applications expand steadily. Today, countries around the world are placing great emphasis on the development of hydrogen energy; developed nations such as the United States, Europe, and Japan have formulated long-term hydrogen development plans and achieved new breakthroughs in technologies spanning hydrogen production, storage, transportation, refueling, and hydrogen fuel cells. In recent years, China has also actively advanced its hydrogen development strategy, issuing the “Medium- and Long-Term Plan for the Development of the Hydrogen Energy Industry (2021–2035)” and including hydrogen energy in the 14th Five-Year Plan and the Outline for the 2035 Vision. Through initiatives focused on clean hydrogen production, efficient hydrogen transportation, and flexible hydrogen utilization, China is driving technological innovation in the hydrogen industry and supporting the achievement of its carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals.
Mr. Yang Xiaohu, Executive Director and President of CIMC Enric, stated: “In the future, CIMC Enric will leverage its industry-leading R&D platform and outstanding R&D team to conduct in-depth, ongoing research on liquid hydrogen products and other critical links in the hydrogen value chain, thereby further advancing the commercialization and full-chain operational deployment of liquid hydrogen. At the same time, we will integrate internal and external resources across the hydrogen value chain to jointly develop a broader range of hydrogen application scenarios, thus supporting the comprehensive development of the hydrogen industry and the early achievement of China’s dual-carbon goals.”
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