Fuel cells in deep-sea shipping: challenging path ahead

“As regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions take effect step by step, the introduction of fuel cells to vessels is inevitable,” declared Kyunghee Kim, vice president of Samsung Heavy Industries’ (SHI) Outfitting Team. He was speaking at the announcement last September that the South Korean shipbuilder is to work with New York-listed Bloom Energy to develop an Aframax tanker design powered by fuel cells running on natural gas. SHI and Bloom Energy have already received Approval in Principle from DNV GL to go ahead with the design.

California-based Bloom Energy, new to shipping, produces stationary fuel cells for land-based applications and numbers 25 ‘Fortune 100’ companies amongst its customers. Commenting on the tie-up with SHI, the company’s Founder and CEO, Dr K.R. Sridhar said that Bloom Energy had already helped companies around the world to reduce their carbon emissions.

This tanker project has generated plenty of interest, not least because it involves one of the world’s largest shipbuilders. And it is likely over time that various types of fuel cells offering different benefits could well prove to be a major step forward on shipping’s decarbonisation path.

But for those engaged in fuel cell research and development, and others who are overseeing the generation of appropriate rules and safety standards, it is one small step at a time. There are many challenges ahead – in fuel cell science, marine engineering, safety, infrastructure and regulation.

Interim Guidelines on the way

Nevertheless, there are many projects under way in the first three of these areas and the IMO is now engaged in drafting Interim Guidelines for the Safety of Shipping using Fuel Cell Power Installations. When these are finalised, it should mean an uptick in interest from progressive owners with an eye on 2050.

But, rather like the adoption of LNG as a marine fuel, even when the rules are in place and many of the technical issues have been sorted out, the adoption of fuel cell technology on commercial ships will be driven by fuel availability and infrastructure considerations.

This will depend, in part, on choice of fuel cell technology. Two types are considered potentially most suitable for marine applications. According to Ed Fort, Head of Engineering Systems at Lloyd’s Register (LR), low temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells provide high power density comparable with internal combustion engines; they have a small footprint; and they benefit from significantly greater R&D funding. These fuel cells are the technology of choice in the car, rail and aviation sectors.

Solid oxide fuel cells, meanwhile, operate at high temperatures, creating opportunities for waste heat recovery. They also offer the potential for more durable generators, greater fuel flexibility and very high combined cycle efficiencies, Fort said. LR believes that the adoption of fuel cells will increase, initially for distributed power, then for integration with larger systems to meet continuous power demands, and ultimately for propulsion.

Challenges: power density and space

However, he explained why this will be a far from simple process. “Fuel cells are capable of providing a zero-emission source of energy for deep-sea ships. However, until such marine fuel cell installations are optimised, power density – and therefore real estate required on board – will be a challenge compared to internal combustion engines.

“The greatest challenge is the fuel on which the fuel cells are to operate, both in terms of storage density and worldwide availability,” he said, adding that this will present issues relating to cargo capacity, passenger numbers, ship operating profiles and bunker capacity.

This is a key driver for maintaining a keen interest on international combustion engine technology development, he said. “Fuel-cell powered deep-sea ships might be desirable in the longer term, but decarbonisation needs to recognise the large existing fleet of deep-sea ships, many of which will need to switch to sustainable fuels during their lifetime in order to achieve industry aspirations,” he observed.

DNV GL’s Lars Langfeldt, Senior Project Engineer at DNV GL, thinks that finalisation of the IMO’s Interim Guidelines will establish an important baseline for owners and operators. The rules should provide a catalyst for more companies to test the technology and he believes the first fuel cells could be available for market as soon as 2022, followed by pilot installations around 2025. However, he does not see fuel cells being widely adopted in shipping before the mid-2030s.

Regulatory framework required

Langfeldt points out that although the IGF Code has been drafted to include other low flashpoint fuels in future, it only contains detailed requirements on the use of LNG so far. Other low flashpoint fuels including hydrogen, however, can be approved based on the ‘alternative design’ process but a full regulatory framework for these fuels does not exist yet.

Both classification society experts identified a number of plus points for fuel cells, besides emissions performance. These include high efficiency resulting in lower fuel costs – and, like batteries, scalability. They also shared the view that fuel cells are likely to be one of several power generators, including batteries, that are likely to supply auxiliary and ultimately propulsion requirements.

Low noise and vibration are also plus points, enhancing their suitability for applications in the cruise sector, Langfeldt said. In these applications, existing projects envisage their use as sources of power for the substantial hotel energy requirements of cruise vessels.

Fuel cells a key focus for ABB Marine & Ports

“At the moment, our main focus is on low temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells as we believe them to be the most available in scale on a commercial basis and that they fit well for marine applications,” explained Jostein Bogen, Global Product Manager Power & Propulsion Control at ABB Marine & Ports. “However, as a systems integrator, we are not limiting ourselves to the PEM fuel cell for the future.”

The maritime division has had a close tie-up with Norway’s SINTEF, one of Europe’s leading independent research organisations, since 2015, initially to test hybrid arrangements of diesel engines and batteries. Last year, Bogen said, fuel cells were added to the mix. With two new fuel cells in the expanded lab, it is possible to test various power plant configurations, including load sharing with two fuel cells running in parallel.

Last year, the company announced a deal in which it will provide a fuel cell power and propulsion system for a push boat, due for delivery in 2021, which will operate emission-free on the Rhône River in France. The company is also working with Canada’s Ballard Power Systems to provide a pilot fuel cell system for Royal Caribbean International.

Although a number of the company’s projects with SINTEF are confidential, Bogen mentioned research there to test the application of fuel cell technology for main propulsion based on tests at model scale. He also highlighted a project to assess how fuel cells and batteries can be combined for short-distance ferry operations and possibly integrated with other engine room systems by Norwegian shipyard, Fiskerstrand.

Wärtsilä takes a broad approach

Following the 2018 closure of the 15-year FellowShip project exploring the use of batteries, hybrids and fuel cell technologies with pilot installations on board the offshore supply vessel, Viking Lady, Wärtsilä is working again with Norway’s Eidesvik Offshore, state oil company Equinor and classification society DNV GL to test fuel cells on board Eidesvik’s supply vessel, Viking Energy.

This time, the LNG-powered vessel is to be modified to enable it to cover large distances fuelled by carbon-free ammonia fuel cells. Equinor, which now requires hybrid power arrangements and power from shore for all supply vessels fixed on long-term contracts, has signed a five-year contract during which the Viking Energy will use existing hybrid power systems, with fuel cells installed and tested from 2024.

Ingve Sorfonn, Technical Director of Wärtsilä’s electrical and automation business, explained that the results of the 2010 fuel cell installation on board the Viking Lady had been good, but the market was not ready at that time. Now the company is undertaking projects to test various types of fuel cells, both low- and high-temperatures types and including cells powered by LNG with carbon capture. “Our objective is to test for maximum fuel flexibility,” he said.

Sebastiaan Bleuanus, Wärtsilä’s General Manager, Research Coordination & Funding, enlarged on Sorfonn’s comments. “Fuel cell development is still at a relatively early stage,” he said. “We are also looking at all fuels that could be used in an internal combustion engine. We are pursuing incremental developments but also radical developments. Until we figure out which technologies to choose, we’re going to run things in parallel.”