HD HHI’s HVAC Wins AiP from ABS

Lee Hwan-shik, head of the Shipbuilding Design Division at HD HHI and President Kim Sung-hoon of ABS Korea attend a ceremony in which HD HHI received an approval in principle (AiP) from classification services provider American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for its heating, ventilation & air condition system for ships using ammonia as a refrigerant at HD HHI headquarters in Ulsan on July 5. (Photos: HD HHI)

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HD HHI) said on July 5 the company developed an eco-friendly, heating, ventilation & air condition (HVAC) system.

HD HHI received an approval in principle (AiP) from classification services provider American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for its heating, ventilation & air condition system for ships using ammonia as a refrigerant at HD HHI headquarters in Ulsan on the same day.

The HVAC system is a device designed to ensure integrated control of clean air conditions, such as cooling &heating, and ventilation inside ships.

HD HHI has used ammonia as a refrigerant of the HVAC system. Ammonia is an eco-friendly refrigerant that stands at almost 1 in the global warning potential (GWP) index.

The HVAC system has almost no impact on global warming, compared to household air-conditioners, using hydrofluorocarbon, which stand at about 2,000 in the GWP index.

Ammonia is known for not harming the ozone layer and emitting greenhouse gases.

But the use of ammonia has been limited to industrial, large-capacity systems on land, such as ice manufacturing, freezing and refrigerating due to flammability and intoxicating human body, but not to the HVAC system for ships.

HD HHI has installed an ammonia freezing unit at a separate, exclusive space and set up a gas detector and an emergency ventilation system for gas leakage to ensure safety.

HD HHI has minimized costs by installing the ammonia freezer near the HVAC system in the living room of seamen, the company said.

An HD HHI official said, “We’ll make continuous efforts to realize maritime carbon neutrality by ramping up eco-friendliness of not only propulsion systems bust the whole of ships.”

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries won an order to build a second Aegis destroyer.

The latest winning order brings to four the number of Korea’s five Aegis destroyers HD HHI will build.

HD HHI struck a 636.6 billion won deal with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration to build an Aegis destroyer, which is the second of three upgraded Aegis destroyers named Gwanggaeto-III Batch II.

The Navy plans to introduce three Aegis destroyers by 2028. The second Aegis destroyer, to be delivered by 2026, is the same type of the first Aegis destroyer the shipbuilder landed in October 2019.

The Aegis destroyer, outfitted with high-performance radar and mid- and long-term antiaircraft and antisubmarine missiles, is called “The Shield of the God” or “Destroyer of Dreams” since it is capable of subduing several aircraft, warships, missiles and even a submarine.

The 8,100-ton next-generation Aegis destroyers will be the biggest in Korea.

The upgraded Aegis destroyers have more powerful capacity to intercept ballistic missiles and anti-submarine operation capacity, compared with The King Sejong the Great, a 7,100-ton Aegis destroyer built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2008.

HD HHI had successfully constructed the first Aegis destroyer “The King Sejong the Great” and the third Aegis destroyer “Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong.”

Nam Sang-hoon, head of the Special Ship Business Division at HD HHI, said, “It takes on a great significance since we’ve proved our capability to design and build Aegis destroyers.”

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Vice Chairman Han Young-seok looks at a bird’s eye-view for a new manufacturing plant for marine engines after the groundbreaking ceremony at Ras Al-Khair, Saudi Arabia.

HD Hyundai to Build Ship Engine Plant in Saudi Arabia

HD Hyundai has launched a project to build a ship engine plant in Saudi Arabia, licensing out its own engine technologies in return for royalties.

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co., the intermediate holding company of HD Hyundai‘s shipbuilding business, held a ground-breaking ceremony for building a ship engine plant with Makeen, a joint venture with Saudi Arabian Development Co. (SADCO) and Saudi Arabian Industrial Investments Co. (Dussur), at Ras Al-Khair, HD Hyundai said on June 25.

Among those on hand at the event were HD HHI Vice Chairman Han Young-seok, Vice President Mohammad A. Al Shammary of Saudi Aramco's Procurement & Supply Chain Management, and CEO Ras Al-Khair CEO Ahmed M. Hassan.