Experimental evaluation of a solid oxide fuel cell system exposed to inclinations and accelerations by ship motions

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) systems have the potential to reduce emissions from seagoing vessels. However, it is unknown whether ship motions influence the system's operation. In this research, a 1.5 kW SOFC module is operated on an inclination platform that emulates ship motions, to evaluate the influence of static and dynamic inclinations...

The effects of fuel type and cathode off-gas recirculation on combined heat and power generation of marine SOFC systems

An increasing demand in the marine industry to reduce emissions led to investigations into more efficient power conversion using fuels with sustainable production pathways. Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) are under consideration for long-range shipping, because of its high efficiency, low pollutant emissions, and fuel flexibility. SOFC systems...

A reduced-order model of a solid oxide fuel cell stack for model predictive control

The maritime industry is actively exploring alternative fuels and drive train technology to reduce the emissions of hazardous air pollutants and greenhouse gases. High temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) represent a promising technology to generate electric power on ships from a variety of renewable fuels with high efficiencies and no...

Using renewable methanol, PEM fuel cells and on-board carbon capture to reduce well-to-propeller ship emissions

This paper gives an overview of research that was carried out with the purpose of gaining insight whether renewable methanol, fuel cells and on-board carbon capture can be used to reduce the CO2 emissions of part of a fleet consisting of various (governmental) work ships, using methanol produced from waste biomass, excess wind energy and...

Advances on methane reforming in solid oxide fuel cells

With the demand for anticipated green hydrogen and power production, novel and upgraded catalytic processes are desired for more effective utilization of precious natural resources. Methane steam reforming is an advanced and matured technology for converting methane to hydrogen and syngas. As a renewable energy resource containing a large...

Component sizing and energy management for SOFC-based ship power systems

The shipping industry is facing increasing demands to reduce its environmental footprints. This has resulted in adoption of new and more environmental friendly power sources and fuels for on-board power generation. One of these novel power sources is the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) which has a great potential to act as a power source, thanks...

Solid oxide fuel cells for ships: System integration concepts with reforming and thermal cycles

For decades, ships have been propelled by diesel engines. However, there are increasing concerns about their environmental impact. Fuel cells can provide an alternative to convert fuels directly into electricity, with high efficiencies and without hazardous emissions.<br/>Solid oxide fuel cells have a ceramic membrane, which functions at high...

A comparison of steam reforming concepts in solid oxide fuel cell systems

Various concepts have been proposed to use hydrocarbon fuels in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems. A combination of either allothermal or adiabatic pre-reforming and water recirculation (WR) or anode off-gas recirculation (AOGR) is commonly used to convert the fuel into a hydrogen rich mixture before it is electrochemically oxidised in the...

Dynamic modelling of a direct internal reforming solid oxide fuel cell stack based on single cell experiments

Direct internal reforming enables optimal heat integration and reduced complexity in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)systems, but thermal stresses induced by the increased temperature gradients may inflict damage to the stack. Therefore, the development of adequate control strategies requires models that can accurately predict the temperature...

On direct internal methane steam reforming kinetics in operating solid oxide fuel cells with nickel-ceria anodes

Major operating challenges remain to safely operate methane fuelled solid oxide fuel cells due to undesirable temperature gradients across the porous anode and carbon deposition. This article presents an experimental study on methane steam reforming (MSR) global kinetics for single operating SOFCs with Ni-GDC (gadolinium doped ceria) anodes...

A review of fuel cell systems for maritime applications

Progressing limits on pollutant emissions oblige ship owners to reduce the environmental impact of their operations. Fuel cells may provide a suitable solution, since they are fuel efficient while they emit few hazardous compounds. Various choices can be made with regard to the type of fuel cell system and logistic fuel, and it is unclear...