Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. on 3rd of August announced that its initiative to develop a pure water production system for hydrogen generation, proposed jointly by Kyushu University Professor Takeshi Shinoda and Taiyo Sangyo Co., Ltd. has been selected for a Shiga Prefecture-backed project to promote social implementation of near-future technologies.

MOL is promoting the Wind Hunter Project, which harnesses offshore wind energy to produce hydrogen from water onboard and convert it into propulsion for vessels, to realize a decarbonized, hydrogen-based society. However, hydrogen production requires a higher level of water purity, even more than drinking water. During the Wind Hunter hydrogen production process, seawater is first purified by passing it through a filter to remove organic impurities such as carbon content, microplastics, etc. and inorganic matter such as iron, magnesium, sodium, and sludge, but the filters currently in common use require frequent replacement, which increases the workload of crewmembers and imposes a significant cost burden.

In this development, the three parties will play the following roles to develop long-lasting, durable, and high-performance filters that will be able to remove even bacteria, which will require even more advanced technology in the future, and to manufacture a pure water production system.

MOL: Project management, market research, and provision of expertise in marine system design

Kyushu University: Designing demonstration test of pure water production system, development, and application of high-performance filter.

Taiyo Sangyo: Development and application of a reverse osmosis (RO) system.

The development of more efficient onboard technology to produce pure water from seawater in the Wind Hunter project will mark a major step toward the realization of large zero-emission ships.

In this project, a pure water production system will be designed not only for seawater but also for fresh water through a demonstration test in Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture. MOL will assess the effects of differences in water quality and establish a versatile pure water production technology by comparing seawater with fresh water from Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan. It will not only create pure water production technology for the Wind Hunter project, but also apply the developed technology to supply pure water to hydrogen production plant and other applications.