Fuel cells systems for sustainable ships

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volumeChapterScientificpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
117 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

As shipping is setting sail for a sustainable future, the application of fuel cells is increasingly regarded as a promising technology to reduce or fully eliminate emissions. Fuel cells convert the chemical energy in fuels directly into electricity, achieving high efficiencies while emitting no hazardous compounds and producing little noise and vibrations. This chapter provides an overview of different fuel cell systems and discusses the various fuel cell types, working principles and characteristics. Particular attention is given to the low and high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell and solid oxide fuel cell, as these are often considered to hold most potential for application in ships. The application of fuel cells is not restricted to the use of pure hydrogen, thus an overview of relevant fuel processing and purification technologies is provided as well. Operational aspects including electrical efficiency, part load performance, load transients, system start-up, heat recovery and combined cycle operation are introduced and subsequently discussed in the context of maritime application. Aspects related to ship design and operation, emission regulation compliance, reliability, availability, maintenance, safety and economics are briefly considered. Finally, an overview of relevant maritime experience and a future outlook are provided.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSustainable Energy Systems on Ships
Subtitle of host publicationNovel Technologies for Low Carbon Shipping
EditorsFrancesco Baldi, Andrea Coraddu, Maria E. Mondejar
PublisherElsevier
Chapter3
Pages81-121
ISBN (Electronic)978-0-12-824471-5
ISBN (Print)978-0-32-385990-5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care
Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Keywords

  • Fuel processing
  • Operation
  • PEMFC
  • Ships
  • SOFC

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