Moran Innovation Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) Newsletter [Issue 2025.1]

See document summary and SAE aerospace decarbonization webinar here [1]

Welcome to the Moran Innovation Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) newsletter! The goal is to help anyone involved or interested in liquid hydrogen systems to stay informed of the latest news, developments, best practices, training, events, and other relevant LH2 content.

This newsletter will also be posted to the LinkedIn Global Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) Systems group and emailed to interested individuals. If you would like to receive the email version, please send an email to info@moraninnovation.com with "LH2 newsletter" in the subject line from the account you wish to receive it.

Note that links to sources are sprinkled throughout the newsletter and appear as blue underlined text when you hover your mouse over them (or tap them on phones or tablets). Light yellow highlights indicate recommended sites to visit for more in-depth content.

Popular Content from the LH2 Era™ Blog

"In early 2025, I conducted a survey of global liquid hydrogen users that resulted in 75 responses. A summary of the results can be viewed by clicking on the above caption. Many thanks to the fantastic team at Mission Hydrogen for getting the word out about this survey!..." see full post

"This pie chart [2]... may be one of the last bits of promising US energy news we'll get for the next few years. Many colleagues have asked my opinion about the prospects for hydrogen in the US under the new administration. Here's a breakdown of what we already know, and my guess about what's to come..." see full post

"The most common commercially available storage options along with some of their key characteristics are shown above [3]. Each of these methods has advantages and disadvantages that are critical considerations for selecting the best storage method for a given system and use case..." see full post

Visit the LH2 Era™ blog for more LH2 content

LH2 Systems Training

• Online on-demand course can be completed in a day
• Concise treatment of liquid hydrogen (LH2) systems for quickly getting up to speed for those new to the topic
• Advanced tools, knowledge, and hard to find data for more experienced participants
• Applicable and adaptable to any mobile or stationary LH2 system with examples from infrastructure and aerospace
• Video clips from live course lectures edited to provide the most relevant information to learn at your own pace
• Downloadable PDF of over 350 slides with supplemental data and hyperlinks to more details
• Instructor has 40 years of engineering experience with LH2 technologies and systems development for NASA, military, industrial, and commercial customers

Visit the LH2 Era™ Library for this and other on-demand online training materials

Upcoming Events

• Apr 25, 2025, "Large Scale Projects: The Road to Full-Scale Hydrogen Deployment" H2 View webinar.
• May 7, 2025: "Liquid Hydrogen Systems and the Role of Vacuum Jackets" Leybold webinar, 1-2 pm ET.
• May 15, 2025: "Hydrogen for Energy Storage", Interagency Advanced Power Group (IAPG) Mechanical Working Group (MWG) meeting, Power Conversion Panel presentation.
• January 16 - December 18, 2025: Liquid Hydrogen Systems course. 24-hour free online viewing of one of the course lectures on the third Thursday of each month starting at 10 am ET.

Visit the Moran Innovation's Training page for more resources and learning opportunities

Moran Innovation News and Updates

• Artemis Human Landing Systems: Completed subcontract providing cryogenic fluid management subject matter expertise to the NASA and Blue Origin teams developing the Blue Moon LH2/LOx lunar lander. (posted Mar 31, 2025)
  
• Ohio Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Consortium (OFCHC): "Hydrogen 101" virtual presentation for OFCHC members and other registrants. (posted Mar 25, 2025)
• Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE): Completed the final Q&A session with the CTE engineering team after they used the online, on-demand liquid hydrogen systems course. (posted Mar 3, 2025)
• Engineering in Construction & Manufacturing Conference and Trade Show (EC&M): "Hydrogen-Based Energy Systems" panel and presentation on "Hydrogen Microgrids for Resiliency and Fuel Offtake". (posted Feb 27, 2025)
• Mission Hydrogen: Presented on liquid hydrogen fluid management and had a lively Q&A for more than 90 minutes on this very popular global webinar series (1341 live participants). (posted Feb 26, 2025)
• EU HASTA Project: Gave an invited presentation on liquid hydrogen sloshing to the European Union Hydrogen Aircraft Sloshing Tank Advancement (HASTA) Project. (posted January 23, 2025)

Visit Moran Innovation's Home page for more information on LH2 systems, technologies, services, training, consulting, customers, partners, blog index, IP, projects, and more.

Top Ranked LH2 News Posts

"Kawasaki Heavy Industries has ordered a hydrogen pump unit from Nikkiso which will be integrated into a hydrogen-fueled ship using a low-speed, two-stroke hydrogen dual-fuel engine. The technology will complement Kawasaki’s 2.4MW dual-fuel generator engine, which it secured a ClassNK approval in principle (AiP) for in 2022...." see full post

"Annual capacity of up to 8,000 metric tons of hydrogen... Direct integration of the technology into a chemical production environment is a world first... Designed to produce zero-carbon hydrogen, the electrolyzer has a connected load of 54 megawatts and the capacity to supply the main plant with up to one metric ton of this substantial chemical feedstock every hour..." see full post

“Port Houston and Linde have been awarded nearly $25m to build and operate a heavy-duty hydrogen refuelling station in the Texan port. The Department of Transport and the Federal Highway Administration granted the funding to the Port of Houston Authority, as part of a collaboration with Linde and other players..." see full post

References

[1] Decarbonizing Mobility with Liquid Hydrogen, SAE Research Report, 2024.

[2] John Timmer, Ars Technica, Jan 27, 2025.

[3] Liquid Hydrogen Systems Course, 2025.

Author Bio

Matt Moran is the Managing Member at Moran Innovation LLC, and previous Managing Partner at Isotherm Energy. He's been developing power and propulsion systems for more than 40 years; and first-of-a-kind gas, slush, and liquid hydrogen systems since the mid-1980s. Matt was also the Sector Manager for Energy & Materials in his final position at NASA where he worked for 31 years. He's been a cofounder in seven technology-based startups; and provided R&D, engineering, and innovation consulting to several hundred organizations. Matt has three patents and more than 50 publications including his online Cryogenic Fluid Management guide and Decarbonizing Mobility with Liquid Hydrogen SAE report. He has created and taught liquid hydrogen courses, webinars, and workshops to global audiences.

Tankage Options for Liquid Hydrogen

Single wall metal tanks with foam insulation have been routinely used in launch vehicles where onboard storage times for LH2 is short prior to feeding it to the rocket engines. The primary advantage of this approach is the high mass fraction potential, which is critical for launch vehicles. However, the very poor thermal performance of a single wall tank with foam makes it unsuitable for most mobile applications unless a similar concept of operation is envisioned (i.e., short storage time followed by high consumption rate).

Stationary LH2 storage vessels have an inner wall that contains the fluid, an outer wall exposed to ambient conditions, and an evacuated volume between the walls (akin to a Thermos bottle) [1]. A high level of vacuum must be created and maintained between the walls to ensure adequate thermal performance. Insulation is generally used in the evacuated space to further reduce heat transfer to the inner tank wall. Commonly used insulation types—ordered in increasing thermal performance in a high-vacuum environment—include aerogels, perlite, glass bubbles, and multilayer insulation.

This double wall dewar construction, also referred to as “vacuum-jacketed,” is needed for most mobile applications to achieve an acceptable boil-off rate and to meet other system requirements. Vacuum-jacketed piping, valves, and connections are also used to minimize heat load during transfer and other LH2 operations.

Typical inner wall materials compatible with LH2 service include 300-series stainless steel and aluminum alloys. Composite formulations are currently under development as a lighter-weight option to achieve higher mass fraction LH2 storage. Airbus and the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre are developing composite LH2 dewars for aircraft. Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories is also developing single- and double-walled composite storage vessels for a variety of applications. Conformable tanks for improved form factor integration, as well as additive manufacturing techniques, are being developed by various organizations [2].