Fuel Consumption and CO2 Emission Reductions of Ships Powered by a Fuel-Cell-Based Hybrid Power Source

Abstract

The need for technological development to reduce the impact of air pollution caused by ships has been strongly emphasized by many authorities, including the International Maritime Organization (IMO). This has encouraged research to develop an electric propulsion system using hydrogen fuel with the aim of reducing emissions from ships. This paper describes the test bed we constructed to compare our electric propulsion system with existing power sources. Our system uses hybrid power and a diesel engine generator with a combined capacity of 180 kW. To utilize scale-down methodology, the linear interpolation method is applied. The proposed hybrid power source consists of a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), a battery, and a diesel generator, the capacities of which are 100 kW, 30 Kw, and 50 kW, respectively. The experiments we conducted on the test bed were based on the outcome of an analysis of the electrical power consumed in each operating mode considering different types of merchant ships employed in practice. The output, fuel consumption, and CO2 emission reduction rates of the hybrid and conventional power sources were compared based on the load scenarios created for each type of ship. The CO2 emissions of the hybrid system was compared with the case of the diesel generator alone operation for each load scenario, with an average of 70%~74%. This analysis confirmed the effectiveness of using a ship with a fuel-cell-based hybrid power source.

Current Status and Future Development of Fuel Cell Ships in China

“…According to the different electrolytes, fuel cells can be divided into low temperature and high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC and HT-PEMFC), solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), melt carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC), alkaline fuel cell (AFC) and direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). Some important characteristics of fuel cells are summarised in Table 1 [1,[7][8][9].…”

Multi-source Energy Management of Maritime Grids

“…Compared with the main engines, fuel cell has smaller capacity and scale, which is suitable to undertake some small-scale load demands. Compared with the battery, fuel cell doesn't need charging, which can undertake long-term load demand [28] has studied this topic and compared two cases: (1) main engine; and (2) main enginefuel cell. The testbed used in this study consists of a hybrid power source with the combined capacity of 180 kW (100 kW fuel cell, 30 kW battery, and 50 kW diesel generator).…”

Fuel Cell Power Systems for Maritime Applications: Progress and Perspectives

“…Hence, the recycling and re-use of MCFC components are important to improve the overall environmental performance of such systems. A testbed of a hybrid power source composed of a MCFC, a lead-acid battery and a diesel generator was developed to simulate the fuel consumption of five types of ships based on respective operating profiles [15]. Average CO 2 savings of 70-74% based on different ship types and load scenarios were reported, compared to the standalone operation of the diesel generator.…”