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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MARANDA (Marine application of a new fuel cell powertrain validated in demanding arctic conditions)

Teaser

Summary

The marine propulsion represents high potential for reducing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions because emission savings can be achieved by replacing a single conventional powertrain on a large ship. Most ships burn bunker fuel, which has also high sulphur content.

However, existing fuel cell technology components face application specific challenges that need to be addressed in order to drive large scale adoption in the marine sector. In order to achieve competitiveness, additional research and demonstration efforts are required for such drive systems in order to become competitive with conventional technologies.

In MARANDA project an emission-free hydrogen fuelled PEMFC based hybrid powertrain system is developed for marine applications and validated both in test benches and on board the research vessel Aranda, which is one of about 300 research vessels in Europe.

The project will increase the market potential of hydrogen fuel cells in marine sector, which have for long lagged behind road transportation. General business cases for different actors in the marine and harbour or fuel cell business will be created and therefore the impacts in the whole industry will be notable.

Work performed

During the first 30 months period the work has been focused on developing and validating the technical solutions and preparing the validation phase.

During the first 30 months period the work has been focused on developing and validating the technical solutions and preparing the validation phase.

Specifications document was prepared, which completed to support the concise design and implementation process.

Regulations, codes and standards were reviewed and preliminary safety analysis was carried out based on that and the specifications.

A life cycle analysis (LCA) to assess environmental impacts associated with the use of hydrogen fuel cells in marine applications was carried out.

A filter and filter monitoring solution was developed for both FC system container and for hydrogen storage container. In the selected fuel cell system container solution all the ventilation air for the fuel cell container is filtered with particle filters. A part of the filtered air is then further purified by chemical filter before it is used by FC system.

A small humidifier characterisation study was planned performed. It was found that dry inlet air temperature clearly affects the performance of both studied humidifiers.

In the ejector development the modelling and experimental expertise of VTT has been combined with manufacturing skills of OMB. Based on the CFD simulations and modelling by VTT a selection of ejectors modules were designed together by VTT and OMB and characterised by VTT and validated for the measurements with humid air, hydrogen and gas mixtures (H2, N2, H2O). A new ejector model has been developed and validated. The model was used to design optimised ejector, which could also be used in 1st system durability testing.

In stack durability measurements significant improvements has been achieved with latest generation MEAs (membrane electrode assemblies). When slightly accelerated test cycle (compared to expected marine conditions) was used for PowerCell S3 stack with MEA B during 2500 hours, the average degradation rate was -2.6 ÂµV/h, while the project target is -4.6 ÂµV/h.

All 455-cell S3 stacks have been delivered by PowerCell Sweden (PCS) to project partner Swiss Hydrogen (SH) with a Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) results.

The first 82.5 kW(AC) system has been delivered to VTT by Swiss Hydrogen. This system has been integrated in the container and is ready to be shipped to the durability test site.

Subsystems for the 2nd and 3rd 1st system has been characterised and validated. Preparations for Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) testing has been done for these systems.

The different electrical concept design scenarios for Aranda vessel has been analysed thoroughly to find the most suitable fuel cell hybrid powertrain. The conclusion was that the traditional ac connection is a low risk system in which the system components are the most standard.

Compact and rugged drive module (HES880 converter, DC choke and LCL filter) have been developed and manufactured by ABB during the project to be used in 1000 VDC DC link and 690 VAC. The HES880 converter solution has been delivered to VTT for final integration.

During the first two project periods two different plans have been drafted for hydrogen storage. A new design for the on-board H2 fuel storage was developed in the project. This design is based on TPED-certified composite gas bottle packs, which can be removed from the on-board storage system for re-fill, and re-attached when full. Thanks to their TPED-certificate, on-road transport of these bottle packs is straightforward. Furthermore, as the container does not need to be removed from the ship for transport, making it compatible with marine safety regulations can be done. All components and for this solution has been purchased or manufactured.

The concept design of the FC & H2 container system for Aranda has been finalized. All main components for container systems has been purchased and most of them rec

Final results

In MARANDA project new more durable fuel cells systems will be developed with latest cell components. The achieved very low degradation rate (-2.6 ÂµV/h) should be verified at the system level. Optimisation of the hydrogen recirculation, lowering the coolant temperature from 70Â°C to 60 Â°C and optimisation of operation strategies will enable longer life-times (> 15000 hours) so that hydrogen fuel cell use in marine applications becomes possible.

In this project next generation power electronics components for FC powered research vessel are developed. Components are optimized (efficiency, weight, size etc.) for the target application. DC-AC inverters will be based on the optimisation of second generation HES880 for the current and voltage of the fuel cell system and marine application requirements.