Various stories of activities brought to you by Hyosung Chemical
Hyosung Chairman Hyun-Joon Cho has begun to activate the hydrogen economy by preparing to construct the world’s largest liquid hydrogen factory following a large-scale investment in carbon fiber last year. Hyosung joined hands with the Linde Group, a global chemical company specializing in industrial gas, to establish a value chain encompassing the production and transportation of liquid hydrogen and installation and operation of charging stations by investing KRW 300 billion in all by 2022. For this purpose, an MOU was signed by Hyosung Chairman Hyun-Joon Cho and Linde Korea Chairman Baek-Seok Seong on April 28 at the head office of Hyosung in Mapo, Seoul.□ To expand charging infrastructure by constructing a liquid hydrogen factory with annual production capacity of 13,000 tons in Yongyeon by 2022 As a start, the two companies will build a liquid hydrogen factory on a 30,000㎡ (about 10,000 pyeong)-plus site in the premises of the Ulsan Yongyeon factory of the Hyosung Group by investing KRW 150 billion. The factory will be the largest in the world as a single plant with annual production capacity of 13,000 tons (enough to fuel 100,000 passenger cars). A joint venture will be established by the end of this year to begin construction of the factory during the first quarter of the following year and complete the factory in 2022.The new factory will produce liquid hydrogen by applying the hydrogen liquefaction technology and equipment of the Linde Group to the byproduct hydrogen produced in the Yongyeon factory of Hyosung Chemical. The Linde Group has the best production technology in liquefying high-pressure hydrogen gas.The produced liquid hydrogen can be used not only for cars but also in various mobility areas including drone, vessel, and forklift. As such, it can contribute to the development of related industries.Once the factory is completed, the two companies will invest an additional KRW 150 billion to establish liquid hydrogen charging infrastructure. For the supply of liquid hydrogen, the two companies agreed to develop a cooperative partnership by expanding hydrogen stations to more than 120 (50 new stations, increasing the charging capacity of 70 stations) in major bases in the nation.Hyosung Heavy Industries advanced into the CNG charging system business in 2000, expanding hydrogen charging stations since 2008. Currently, the company has built 15 hydrogen stations nationwide, accounting for 40% of the market share as the No. 1 in the nation.According to Chairman Baek-Seok Seong of Linde Korea, the Linde Group has produced liquid hydrogen in the US and Europe for 30 years and developed various applications including liquid hydrogen station in the mobility area. “We look forward to a significant synergy effect by combining the advanced technology of Linde with Hyosung’s experience accumulated for a long time in Korea,” he said.□ Chairman Hyun-Joon Cho: “Our investment will play a huge role in the development of the liquid hydrogen business and activation of the hydrogen industry.”On this day, Chairman Hyun-Joon Cho said that hydrogen has unlimited potential as an environment-friendly energy that can change the existing economic structure centering on carbon. The core of the liquid hydrogen business being implemented by Hyosung is enabling the storage and transport of hydrogen in an efficient, safe way. “Our investment will play a huge role in the development of the liquid hydrogen business and activation of the hydrogen industry,” he added.□ Expected to play the role of locomotive in realizing the government’s “activation of hydrogen economy” The MOU has great significance since it will make Hyosung have a solid foundation for leading the activation of the hydrogen economy in the mobility area. It has something in common with the government’s “roadmap for the activation of hydrogen economy” announced in January when the government said it will propagate 6.2 million cars by 2040 and prepare 1,200 hydrogen stations.In August last year, Hyosung announced its plan to invest in carbon fiber for the activation of hydrogen economy in the presence of President Moon Jae-in in the Carbon Fiber factory in Jeonju. At that time, Chairman Hyun-Joon Cho said during the agreement signing ceremony that Hyosung will invest approximately 1 trillion won in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do Province by 2028 and produce 24,000 tons of carbon fiber annually.Dubbed the “dream hi-tech material,” carbon fiber is 10 times stronger than iron while its weight is only one-fourth of iron. Carbon fiber is the core material of the fuel tank of hydrogen cars. Hyosung succeeded in developing carbon fiber in 2011 for the first time in Korea using its own technology, and it is currently putting spurs to the development and supply of carbon fiber for hydrogen fuel tank.□ Easy storage and transportation of liquid hydrogen to increase the operation efficiency of hydrogen stations remarkablyIt used to be pointed out that the Korean market is not very attractive due to the high cost of storage and transportation of hydrogen gas.Hydrogen is liquefied at minus 253 degrees, and liquid hydrogen can be stored and transported easily as its volume is only 1/800 of hydrogen gas. A tank lorry can transport up to 3,500kg of liquid hydrogen, which is 14 times the 250kg hydrogen gas. In addition, the low-pressure liquid hydrogen is safer than the high-pressure hydrogen gas. The operation efficiency of the charging station is also expected to be improved significantly. The time spent for charging a passenger car (5kg) will be shortened by 4 times from 12 minutes for hydrogen gas to 3 minutes for liquid hydrogen. Moreover, the reduced charging time will contribute to the expansion of hydrogen buses and trucks that need much hydrogen fuel (25kg).As liquid hydrogen can be stored in a space smaller than the storage facility for hydrogen gas, it is possible to build a charging station on just 30% of the land of a hydrogen gas storage facility. As a result, the storage facility for liquid hydrogen can be built in the downtown area; thus increasing the access of hydrogen-fueled cars.The business world believes that the bold investment of Hyosung in liquid hydrogen will lead the activation of the hydrogen economy amid the difficult economic situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic.Hyosung Heavy Industries has accumulated the technology and know-how in the area of gas charging for over 20 years after it advanced into the CNG charging system business in 2000. As the Linde Group has unparalleled technology in the areas of production, transportation, and charging of hydrogen, the two companies are expected to have synergy through cooperation.
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Jamsil Creation Studio, which receives financial support from Hyosung, is holding an exhibition “The Value Linked Together” at the Seoul History Museum at Seosomun Historical Park from Oct. 16 until Nov. 4. The said event will display the works created by artists working at Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture and as part of a mentoring program for disabled children. Hyosung has provided financial support for creative activities of the artists working at Jamsil Creation Studio run by the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture and exhibition of their works over the past three years as part of the mecenat (patronage) movement. The Group has provided a total of KRW 200 millon (including 100 million won this year) to them. The number of the artists receiving the support comes to about thirty. Jamsil Creation Studio is a place of creative works for disabled artists specializing in visual arts. It is the only one of its kind in the country. Each year, it selects 12 disabled artists who need a space for making their creative works through open competition. It has identified a total of 130-plus artists. Hyosung official said, “We will continue to strive to foster environment for talented disabled artists. We hope what little help provided by us can energize the culture/art circles, which are having a hard time due to COVID-19.
The Hyosung Group donated KRW 300 million to the Korean Red Cross as relief fund for flood victims amid the long spell of rain and heavy downpour, which have caused damage to many households and cost many lives this summer.The fund has been paid by Hyosung Corporation as the holding company of the group, Hyosung TNC, Hyosung Heavy Industries, Hyosung Advanced Materials, and Hyosung Chemical. “We fully sympathize with the flood victims. We sincerely hope that this donation we made will help them get back on their feet,” Hyosung Chairman CHO Hyun-Joon said.
Representatives of the HYOSUNG Group delivered KRW 70 million in support fund on August 10 for a program run by the Jongno Women Resources Development Center for job-seeking women from less-privileged households, as the Group has done every year since 2013. The support fund is for the program for training school meal cooks, social welfare workers, and after-school caretakers. So far, 200-plus women have landed jobs with the help of this program. This year, the center is operating a new three-month program for training geriatric care workers along with after-care caretakers beginning August. Even after the completion of the program, the center’s staff continues to provide support including provision of information on businesses hiring employees until the trainees land jobs.“Geriatric care workers and after-school caretakers are the types of jobs welcomed in our society, where the areas of welfare are expanding. We sincerely hope that more women succeed in restarting their career through corporate support like ours and accomplish economic self-reliance,” a HYOSUNG official said.The HYOSUNG Group operates a wide variety of programs designed to help those from less-privileged households land jobs and join the economically active population. It also provides support for artists belonging to the Jamsil Art Studio (catering to artists with disabilities as the only one of its kind) of the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture and financial support for the improvement of job facilities for those with severe disabilities by operating as a subordinate organization of the Eden Welfare Foundation.
The HYOSUNG Group provided a sum of KRW 20 million to the Mapo Scholarship Foundation on July 10. The fund is to be provided to 20-plus students with good grades, those from less-privileged households, and those with sporting abilities as in Mapo-gu, Seoul. This is part of the annual event held by HYOSUNG since 2015. So far, the Group has provided a total of KRW 120 million in scholarship funds to 120 students.“We are grateful that HYOSUNG has provided such financial aid for local students in Mapo as part of its activities aimed at sharing with the local community. We will see to it that the aid fund is spent as intended by HYOSUNG and strive to provide other types of aid to local students experiencing difficulties,” said President Park Hong-seop of the Mapo Scholarship Foundation during the event.
Hyosung visited the ROK 1 Corps (Gwanggaeto Corps) and delivered a contribution and provided care packages for them.Hyosung’s money contribution and care packages, which are worth about KRW 44,000,000, will be used to strengthen the soldiers’ physical strength and boost their morale while being in this hot weather.In 2010, Hyosung established a sisterhood relationship (one company for one barrack) with ROK 1 Corps, who are in charge of defending the northern part of the capital and also the western front. Since then, every year the company has continued to sponsor the soldiers through delivering money contribution and supporting their book café facility for the development of the Corps.Meanwhile, Hyosung has also supported the Eden Welfare Foundation, where about 100 people with severe disabilities are working while using KRW 20 million to improve its facility. Hyosung’s donation will be used to renovate the new facilities such as adding new printers and recuperators, and it will also improve the working environment for the employees with disabilities.
Hyosung Chemical is targeting the construction market with POKETONE, its eco-friendly engineering plastic material, which was used to make a water meter last year and a watt-hour meter earlier this year.□ Hyosung Chemical uses polyketone to produce a watt-hour meter for the first time in the country.On June 22, 2020, Hyosung Chemical declared that the company had used polyketone to produce a watt-hour meter for the first time in Korea and launched its production.Polyketone is a high-polymer, eco-friendly, low-carbon type of material made of carbon monoxide (a leading cause of atmospheric pollution). Hyosung Chemical succeeded in developing the material POKETONE for the first time in the world in 2013. Thanks to its high-impact strength and outstanding chemical and wear resistance compared to existing industrial materials, it is being widely used in diverse fields.The watt-hour meter, jointly developed with ‘Green Floor’, a measurement equipment manufacturer, has excellent flame retardancy and high-impact strength, i.e. more than twice as resistant to external shocks as existing materials, improving the durability of the product. If 10,000 existing watt-hour meters were replaced with 10,000 watt-hour meters made with polyketone material, it would have the effect of reducing carbon monoxide, the main cause of air pollution, by about 1,500kg.Hyosung Chemical acquired an eco-friendly green certificate from the Ministry of Environment in August 2016 in recognition of the eco-friendliness of polyketone. □ Hyosung Chemical supports small- and medium-sized affiliates to find a market.In particular, Hyosung Chemical supports ‘Green Floor’, a small client company that has developed the product together with Hyosung, to pioneer the market. Accordingly, Hyosung plans to supply watt-hour meters made with polyketone to major building sites run by Hyosung Heavy Industries, from November 2020. Furthermore, Hyosung has decided to continuously support the small affiliates to open up a market targeting other construction companies too. In 2019, Hyosung Chemical, together with Samsung Measuring Co., developed a water meter made with polyketone and supplied 23,000 units to the Seoul Waterworks Authority. As the new water meter is 2.4 times more resistant to freezing and bursting pipes than existing products, it was well received as an eco-friendly high-strength building material by the Office of Waterworks. Hyosung has already received more than 100,000 pre-orders this year, and demand for the eco-friendly building material is continuously increasing. □ Scope of application expanding to daily necessities. The scope of application of polyketone is gradually expanding to everyday commodities such as food trays, golf tees and diverse leisure products. From September 2019, Hyosung Chemical developed eco-friendly food trays made with polyketone together with the start-up company EGS, Global Korea and has been selling them. Recognized as a harmless product by the US FDA (United States Food and Drug Administration), the polyketone food tray has excellent high solidity and outstanding wear resistance compared to existing plastic products, giving it a long lifespan, and sales are increasing sharply, especially for nursery facilities.Furthermore, demand for golf tees made with polyketone is increasing thanks to their excellent strength and solid texture, compared to existing products. Since the product launch in 2019, more than 20,000 golf tees have been sold, attracting an increasing number of golf enthusiasts. Hyosung Chemical’s CEO Lee Kun-jong said, “POKETONE, a key material representing the eco-friendly plastic market, will become a next-generation eco-friendly material as its scope of application expands to engineering products, daily necessities, and leisure products as well as building materials.
