Design and engineering consultancy Houlder has recently completed a major design project for Shell International Trading and Shipping Company: the development of a concept design for a 20,000m3 liquid hydrogen (LH2) carrier.
Houlder collaborated with Shell on the statement of requirements, ensuring that both parties were aligned on vessel specifications. The team then conducted a feasibility study for fuel and powering arrangements, and also undertook concept general arrangement, hull design and powering, and structural design work. The concept design was verified and optimised using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis. Houlder recently enhanced its hydrodynamics, computer simulation and technical data analysis capabilities through the acquisition of Seaspeed Marine Consulting.
In addition, Houlder recently completed related work for Shell on hydrogen containment systems and carried out a ship piping and instrumentation review for ships carrying hydrogen as a cargo or as a fuel.
Jonathan Strachan, Director Ship Design and Engineering, Houlder, said: “These are very cool projects, both literally and metaphorically, with liquid hydrogen clocking in at -253°C. It is always a privilege to design pioneering vessels that have the potential to drive the energy transition forwards. And it’s become part of Houlder’s DNA. We look forward to collaborating with Shell on future pioneering projects.”
