Periodic Reporting for period 4 - MARANDA (Marine application of a new fuel cell powertrain validated in demanding arctic conditions)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2021-03-01 do 2022-03-31
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 was developed for marine applications and validated both in durability test benches and simulating operation 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.
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 was developed for marine applications and validated both in durability test benches and simulating operation 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.
During the project the work has included developing and validating the technical solutions and installing the developed solutions in the containers.
Specifications document was prepared and regulations, codes and standards were reviewed.
Two life cycle analysis (LCA) to assess environmental impacts associated with the use of hydrogen fuel cells in marine applications haven carried out.
A filter and filter monitoring solution was developed for both FC system container and for hydrogen storage container.
A small humidifier characterisation study was 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.
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 µV/h, while the project target is -4.6 µV/h.
All 455-cell S3 stacks have been delivered by PowerCell Sweden (PCS) to project partner Swiss Hydrogen (SH) and all 82.5 kW(AC) systems were delivered to VTT .
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 were delivered to VTT and integrated in containers.
Two different plans were 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 were purchased or manufactured.
The concept design was finalized and mechanical design of the fuel cell container has been done by creating and updating its CAD model. Component data and subsystem data for mechanical integration of componentry were finalized with the FC power module partner SH and with the power electronics partner ABB.
Fuel cell system and hydrogen storage components and systems have been installed and integrated in containers.
The 2nd FC system has been installed in a 20 ft container as well as all the power electronics and safety equipment. This will be tested with the hydrogen storage container before installing the 3rd FC system in fuel cell container.
Safety assessment of the Aranda on-board FC & H2 system was performed in co-operation with Traficom (Finnish Transport Safety Agency) and with DNV. The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency have confirmed Traficom can exempt RV Aranda from provisions of SOLAS for maximum of 6 months assuming no severe risk scenarios are identified during the process, and considering the temporary nature of the installation. The process started with “Design Review” of the MARANDA system by DNV. After design review it was decided to perform validation test runs on land, as the required changes for the H2 and FC systems were not possible.
Validation test runs on-land were successful, but also demonstrated the difficulties in FC integration in maritime applications, especially when active safety system are applied. Test runs included simulation of operation in R/V Aranda as well as use of H2FC systems in river vessels.
In the durability testing at the industrial site over 1000 hours of testing time was gained within 2.5 years time.
The project has been presented in over 20 conferences, workshops or trade fairs. As a part of the project work a business analysis tool has been developed during the first period of the project to support dissemination activities. In the third period extensive business analysis study for hydrogen fuel cells in maritime applications has been prepared. In the last year of the project, the developed fuel cell and hydrogen solution has been presented over 20 times at VTT including more than 10 dissemination test runs.
The project results and hardware are exploited in both commercial and research applications. For Powercell, ABB, OMB saleri, and Swiss Hydrogen the work done in the project has enabled new markets in the field of hydrogen fuel cells. The hardware from the project is directly exploited in ongoing and coming EU funded and nationally funded project.
Specifications document was prepared and regulations, codes and standards were reviewed.
Two life cycle analysis (LCA) to assess environmental impacts associated with the use of hydrogen fuel cells in marine applications haven carried out.
A filter and filter monitoring solution was developed for both FC system container and for hydrogen storage container.
A small humidifier characterisation study was 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.
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 µV/h, while the project target is -4.6 µV/h.
All 455-cell S3 stacks have been delivered by PowerCell Sweden (PCS) to project partner Swiss Hydrogen (SH) and all 82.5 kW(AC) systems were delivered to VTT .
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 were delivered to VTT and integrated in containers.
Two different plans were 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 were purchased or manufactured.
The concept design was finalized and mechanical design of the fuel cell container has been done by creating and updating its CAD model. Component data and subsystem data for mechanical integration of componentry were finalized with the FC power module partner SH and with the power electronics partner ABB.
Fuel cell system and hydrogen storage components and systems have been installed and integrated in containers.
The 2nd FC system has been installed in a 20 ft container as well as all the power electronics and safety equipment. This will be tested with the hydrogen storage container before installing the 3rd FC system in fuel cell container.
Safety assessment of the Aranda on-board FC & H2 system was performed in co-operation with Traficom (Finnish Transport Safety Agency) and with DNV. The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency have confirmed Traficom can exempt RV Aranda from provisions of SOLAS for maximum of 6 months assuming no severe risk scenarios are identified during the process, and considering the temporary nature of the installation. The process started with “Design Review” of the MARANDA system by DNV. After design review it was decided to perform validation test runs on land, as the required changes for the H2 and FC systems were not possible.
Validation test runs on-land were successful, but also demonstrated the difficulties in FC integration in maritime applications, especially when active safety system are applied. Test runs included simulation of operation in R/V Aranda as well as use of H2FC systems in river vessels.
In the durability testing at the industrial site over 1000 hours of testing time was gained within 2.5 years time.
The project has been presented in over 20 conferences, workshops or trade fairs. As a part of the project work a business analysis tool has been developed during the first period of the project to support dissemination activities. In the third period extensive business analysis study for hydrogen fuel cells in maritime applications has been prepared. In the last year of the project, the developed fuel cell and hydrogen solution has been presented over 20 times at VTT including more than 10 dissemination test runs.
The project results and hardware are exploited in both commercial and research applications. For Powercell, ABB, OMB saleri, and Swiss Hydrogen the work done in the project has enabled new markets in the field of hydrogen fuel cells. The hardware from the project is directly exploited in ongoing and coming EU funded and nationally funded project.
In MARANDA project new more durable fuel cells systems were developed with latest cell components. The achieved very low degradation rate (-2.6 µV/h) should be verified at the system level. It was verified in test bench bt POwercell using other funding sources. Optimisation of the hydrogen recirculation, lowering the coolant temperature from 70°C to 60 °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 were 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.
In this project next generation power electronics components for FC powered research vessel were 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.