Abstract
The ZEUS (Zero Emission Ultimate Ship), developed in the framework of the national research project TecBia conducted by Fincantieri and co-founded by Italian Ministry of Economic Development, is a 25m length vessel characterized by a zero-emissions propulsion system. The on-board power generation is provided by 4 PEM Fuel Cell modules (140 kW power installation) fed by hydrogen stored into 48 Metal Hydride tanks (MH). PEMFC and MH thermal systems are coupled to recover the heat produced by PEMFC and to feed the endothermic dissociation reactions of hydrogen from MHs. This paper provides a Matlab-Simulink model to simulate the dynamic behaviour of the PEMFC power generation system and the thermal coupling with MH racks installed onboard. Three typical operative profiles are simulated to verify the thermal management control system and the impact of transient conditions on the propulsion plant. Furthermore, the effects of the major exogenous parameters are investigated. Results verify that thermal coupling between the two systems is guaranteed; however, an excessive load increase can lead the stacks to operate under non-optimal conditions for significant periods of time. The effect of exogenous parameters has been verified to be negligible and does not significantly affect the control system.
Highlights
In the last years, global CO2 emissions have been growing significantly due to anthropogenic activities, reaching the record values of 33.5 and 33.4 Gtons in 2018 and 2019 respectively [1]
The ZEUS (Zero Emission Ultimate Ship), developed in the framework of the national research project TecBia conducted by Fincantieri and co-founded by Italian Ministry of Economic Development, is a 25m length vessel characterized by a zero-emissions propulsion system
The on-board power generation is provided by 4 PEM Fuel Cell modules (140 kW power installation) fed by hydrogen stored into 48 Metal Hydride tanks (MH)
Summary
Global CO2 emissions have been growing significantly due to anthropogenic activities, reaching the record values of 33.5 and 33.4 Gtons in 2018 and 2019 respectively [1]. Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC), fed by pure hydrogen, present several advantages, such as low noise and vibrations, zero pollutant and CO2 emissions, fast response to load variations and high compactness. Considering their strong potential, their possible application in ships, in particular for sizes up to 1 MW, has been investigated by many authors [15,16,17,18,19]
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