Abstract
The maritime transportation sector is one of the main contributors to global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter (PM), hazardous air pollutants, NOX and SOX. In particular, it is estimated that the CO2 emissions in this sector are about 1 Gt every year. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted stringent emission limits in its Tier III regulation, most notably on NOX and SOX emissions and pledged to reach a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipments by at least 50% by the year 2050, compared to 2008 emissions. For emission control areas (ECAs) these requirements are particularly strict and will be difficult to meet with traditional diesel engines and bunker fuels. Therefore, ship owners need to adopt solutions to bring emissions within these and other future limits by means of environmentally friendly fuels and high efficiency propulsion technologies. In this context, hydrogen and fuel cells play a crucial role, thanks to their low criteria pollutant and GHG emission. This paper presents a techno-economic feasibility study for replacing the conventional diesel engine powertrain, usually employed in Ro-Pax ferries, with an innovative system based on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technology. The ferry is actually powered by four diesel engines, which deliver a total output of 37.8 MW. The ferry also has two auxiliary engines which give an output of 4.0 MW and also two 2.0 MW bow thrusters for its manoeuvring. The energy analysis has allowed to define the hydrogen consumption for each cruise, as well as the optimal size of the innovative propulsion system. In particular, The PEMFC powertrain is sized at the same maximum power output as the main diesel engine and, thanks to the modular architecture of fuel cells and their flexible performance at partial load, the auxiliary engines are not contemplated. Moreover, in order to identify the best solution in terms of ship’s weight and space requirements, two hydrogen storage solutions based on compressed hydrogen technology and liquefied hydrogen technology, have been analyzed and compared. The economic assessment has been carried out by estimating the CAPEX and OPEX for each H2 storage technology by considering short-term, mid-term and long-term scenarios (from 2020 to 2050).
Highlights
Maritime transport is typically viewed as an environmentally friendly transport mode, it is one of the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting sectors of the global economy, responsible for around 1 Gt of CO2eq every year [1,2]
In this work a techno-economic feasibility study for replacing the conventional diesel engine powertrain usually employed in ro-pax ferries with an innovative power system based on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technology, is presented
The ferry is powered by four Wärtsilä 9L46C main diesel engines (MEs), which have a total power output of 37.8 MW, and two Wärtsilä 9L32 auxiliary engines (AEs), which give an output of 4 MW
Summary
Maritime transport is typically viewed as an environmentally friendly transport mode, it is one of the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting sectors of the global economy, responsible for around 1 Gt of CO2eq every year [1,2]. Dall’Armi et al, propose a process simulation study to analyze the peak shaving services that a hybrid PEMFC/Li-ion battery propulsion system can provide to a small RoRo vessel and a passenger ferry. They evaluated different compressed hydrogen storage solutions depending on the cruise duration [13]. Jeong et al [16] analyzed a hybrid propulsion system consisting of a LNG-fueled combustion engine and a hydrogen-fueled PEMFC Based on this background, it is possible to affirm that there is a great interest in developing hydrogen-based powertrain on-board ships, even if several issues, from technical and economic points of view, have to be furtherly and deeply analyzed. The economic assessment is carried out by estimating the CAPEX and OPEX for each H2 storage technology by considering short-term, mid-term and long-term scenarios (from 2020 to 2050)
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