Characterization and experimental comparison of commercial PEMFC stacks for marine applications

Abstract

PEM Fuel Cells are considered among the most promising technologies for hydrogen utilization in both stationary and automotive applications. The number of FC installations on board ships – alone or in hybrid configuration with batteries – is increasing significantly, although international regulations that drive their installation are still missing. In this scenario, the project TecBia aims to identify a dedicated test protocol and the best commercial PEMFC technology for marine applications, assessing the integration of a 140 kW PEMFC system on the Zero Emission Ultimate Ship (ZEUS) vessel. The system design and technology provider has been chosen after a technical comparison based on a dedicated experimental campaign. The experimental campaign had two goals: (i) analyse the performance of the different PEMFC systems to define the best characteristics for maritime applications; (ii) verify the compliance with naval requirements with reference to current and future standards. The present study shows the resulting test protocol for FC Systems (FCS) for maritime applications, defined starting from the existing international regulations on FCS installations and on naval environment requirements; the results of its application on the commercial system chosen for the installation on ZEUS are reported.