On November 19, Kawasaki Heavy Industries unveiled its liquid hydrogen generation system having a capacity of 5 tons per day, which is the first attempt as domestic manufacturer. With more demonstrative developments from now on, Kawasaki is aiming to commercialize the system in 2016.　Kawasaki is now promoting the supply chain business of liquid hydrogen from abroad, which is intended to transport by LH2 ship to Japan the foreign liquid hydrogen produced at low cost.

Kawasaki is also developing a hydrogen gas turbine for power generation for probable massive consumption of hydrogen and is planning to build up an integrated service system in both demand and supply sides. The development of new system at this time is positioned as part of the plan. The experimental system which has been developed is installed now at the hydrogen technology demonstration center inside Kawasaki’s Harima Plant. It consists of a hydrogen liquefying machine with an H2 receiving tank of 50 m3 and two LH2 tanks of 70m3 for a production capacity of approximate 5 tons per day.　

The liquefaction in the system employs the heat exchanging method, for which liquid hydrogen is used as a refrigerant. The system is characteristic with the expansion turbine in the freezing cycle of refrigerating line.

In an ordinary turbine a lubricant is coated between shafts and bearings to control friction during high speed revolution, but in the hydrogen refrigeration line it is feared that such lubricant may be mixed into hydrogen to become an impurity. To solve the problem, Kawasaki newly developed a technology to make the shaft floated from the bearing taking advantage of the floating power of hydrogen, land succeeded turn the turbine at a speed without use of a lubricant.

Further demonstrative experiments will be made in the plant from now on, and more developments will be implemented in the improvement of turbine and so on for the aim to receive orders in Japan from 2016.

As for the hydrogen supply chain business, with a targeted schedule of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020, Kawasaki is planning on the establishment of an LH2 transporting vessel of 2500 m3 and a pilot chain using an LH2 generation plant of 10 tons per day, when the same type of equipment will be employed.