Autonomous underwater vehicles powered by fuel cells: Design guidelines

d’Amore-Domenech, Rafael; Raso, M.A.; Villalba-Herreros, Antonio; Santiago, Óscar Brox; Navarro, Emilio; Leo, Teresa J.

doi:10.1016/j.oceaneng.2018.01.117

Cited by 32 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…In this work, compressed hydrogen was selected, since it is more economic than liquefied hydrogen and, compared to metal hydrides, it is lighter and more compact. 34 Other characteristic considered was keeping energy losses to a minimum during storage. In this sense, compressed gas presents the advantage of discharging without additional elements such as fans, thus avoiding parasitic energy consumption.…”

Section: Fuel Cell Sub-systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emissions and noise reduction on-board an oceanographic vessel thanks to the use of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells

Villalba-Herreros

Gómez

Morán

et al. 2019

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part M:

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In accordance with the European Environment Agency and the International Energy Agency, shipping operations generate about 34% of the total nitrogen oxide emissions and 11% of the total carbon dioxide emissions produced by the transportation industry. The capacity of fuel cells to reduce harmful emissions makes them a very attractive and environmentally friendly energy conversion system. This work studies the application of a fuel cell–based auxiliary power plant fed with hydrogen on-board an existing oceanographic vessel. The objective is to eliminate emissions at port and to reduce pollution near inhabited areas. In addition, the power plant was sized to propel the ship at low speed reducing the noise emitted to the water during research tasks that require a low noise level. The type of fuel cell chosen is proton-exchange membrane fuel cell and the hydrogen that feeds it is stored in compressed form at 70 MPa reaching a total storage amount of 771 kg. The results show that a solution, as the one proposed in this study, is conceptually feasible. The amount of emissions avoided totals 7.95 t of carbon dioxide and more than 121 kg of nitrogen oxides per mission. Furthermore, the noise levels in the engine room are reduced under 90 dBA allowing a silent navigation mode as well as a noiseless ship at port.

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Section: Fuel Cell Sub-systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emissions and noise reduction on-board an oceanographic vessel thanks to the use of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells

Villalba-Herreros

Gómez

Morán

et al. 2019

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part M:

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“…This situation makes it necessary to improve the current energy production systems onboard to reduce and even eliminate pollutant gases and GHG emissions, especially in ships that sail through ECA zones. 5,6…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zero emissions wellboat powered by hydrogen fuel cells hybridised with batteries

Meca

Villalba-Herreros

d’Amore-Domenech

et al. 2021

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part M:

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Due to the more stringent regulations on pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions in the maritime transport sector, solutions are being sought to reduce or avoid the emissions generated during the operation of ships. The onboard installation of hydrogen-fuelled fuel cells is a solution respectful with the environment and the marine ecosystem through which ships navigate. In this work, the design of a wellboat and its power plant based on fuel cells fed with hydrogen and hybridised with batteries is conducted, making it a zero-emissions ship that can navigate Emission Control Areas (ECAs). The fuel cells used are polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), and the hydrogen they consume is stored in tanks pressurised at 35 MPa, grouping these tanks into three standard containers (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) installed on an exposed deck. The electrical and propulsion needs of the ship are covered by the installed power plant, providing an average power of 1266 kW and a peak power of 2624 kW, making it possible to avoid the emission of 10.8 t of CO2, 195 kg of NOx and 9 kg of SOx per 14 h mission.

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“…Different storage solutions have different materials, chemistries and heat properties; therefore, the choice of storage has a direct impact not only on the final volume and weight of the energy system, but also on the heat management. Strategies and guidelines about the energy-system design of fuel cell-powered AUVs are found in the literature [1,4,11,12]. However, they focus on the energy content of the hybrid system, while thermal properties of the components and the total heat balance of the energy system are not considered.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in the case of an AUV, the available volume and weight are limited, which makes it complicated to add subcomponents, such as heat exchangers or heat pumps, in order to reuse the heat. For the AUV, the final buoyancy is also a crucial parameter that must be considered when designing and selecting components for the energy system [4,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Including Heat Balance When Designing the Energy System of Fuel Cell-Powered AUVs

et al. 2021

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Fuel cell-powered Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) represent a growing area of research as fuel cells can increase their endurance. Fuel cells consume hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity. Typically, the fuel cell generates as much heat as electrical energy, and heat management becomes a crucial parameter when designing AUVs. For underwater applications, there is a need to store both gases and several types of storage units with different characteristics exist which have impacts on the energy density and heat behavior. This study aims at including the heat properties of the storage units in the design process of fuel cell-powered AUVs. A heat balance over the energy system of an AUV is calculated for each combination of hydrogen and oxygen storage units. In addition, a multi-criteria decision-making analysis is conducted, considering the calculated total heat, the specific energy, the energy density and the volumetric mass of each combination of storage units as criteria, enabling a comparison and ranking them using two objective criteria weighting methods. Results show that the fuel cell is the major contributor to the heat balance, and that the combinations of liquid oxygen with liquid or compressed hydrogen can be relevant and suitable for underwater applications.

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Autonomous underwater vehicles powered by fuel cells: Design guidelines

Cited by 32 publications

References 16 publications

Emissions and noise reduction on-board an oceanographic vessel thanks to the use of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells

Emissions and noise reduction on-board an oceanographic vessel thanks to the use of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells

Zero emissions wellboat powered by hydrogen fuel cells hybridised with batteries

Including Heat Balance When Designing the Energy System of Fuel Cell-Powered AUVs

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