TU Delft to help green the maritime sector with SH2IPDRIVE

Twenty-five companies and knowledge institutes in the maritime industry have joined forces in SH2IPDRIVE: Sustainable Hydrogen Integrated Propulsion Drives. In this innovation programme, they will work together to make hydrogen shipping a reality. Not only would this make the Dutch sector more sustainable, but it would also give the country a head start in the rapidly developing maritime hydrogen economy. In this project, a team of Delft researchers from the Maritime and Transport Technology department is leading the research in the field of hydrogen carriers, storage systems and system integration.

Future Proof Shipping

Zero-emission propulsion based on hydrogen for vessels, that’s the goal SH2IPDRIVE. The programme focuses on a number of topics, such as new hydrogen carriers and fuel cells, storage and logistics, and safety. The Rotterdam-based company Future Proof Shipping B.V. is coordinating the programme, which, in addition to TU Delft, also has TNO and Marin as participants. The entire consortium covers the whole maritime chain, from start-ups to shipyards.

The programme involves a total investment of over 33 million euros, 24 million of which is financed by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). The focus is on vessels for inland and coastal shipping, both for new construction and the retrofitting of existing vessels. In the longer term, the experience gained in the project can also serve as a springboard for applying the technology in other segments of the maritime sector.

TU Delft leads sub-project on hydrogen carriers

Maritime researchers Lindert van Biert, Klaas Visser, Dingena Schott, Henk Polinder, Andrea Coraddu, Carey Walters and Dennis Lensing are investigating, among other things, various experimental hydrogen carriers, in particular Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHC) and boron hybrids. The use of hydrogen bound to LOHCs has advantages, as many properties are similar to current liquid fuels and therefore require less infrastructure modification. Using boron hydrides (BH) as a hydrogen carrier makes it possible to store hydrogen in solid crystal form with a very high energy density, which is expected to reduce safety risks as well. TU Delft is also participating in sub-projects on bunkering and storage systems, fuel cells, data collection and system validation, system integration and safety. The university’s contribution to these projects includes experimental research and the creation of models and simulations.

Speeding up the energy transition

‘The research at Delft will contribute to a broad foundation of knowledge for the use of hydrogen in shipping. This not only means that existing technical solutions can be applied more quickly. We are also laying the scientific foundation for new technologies that will enable the use of hydrogen in more and more vessels. This will ultimately accelerate the entire maritime energy transition,’ says university lecturer Lindert van Biert, one of the programme’s principal investigators at TU DelftSH2PDRIVE therefore dovetails nicely with the theme of TU Delft’s anniversary year 2022: speeding up the energy transition.