China's Marine Hydrogen Power Wins First Battle

Guo Jiatai, Zhou Mi

China's first hydrogen-fueled working ship, Three Gorges Hydrogen Boat 1, has recently laid down. The ship being built by Jianglong Boat Technology Co., Ltd. will carry a 500 kW hydrogen fuel cell power system developed by the CSSC 712th Research Institute and be classed with China Classification Society (CCS).After delivery, it will be mainly used for transport, inspection and emergency response in the Three Gorges reservoir area and between the dams.

An industry expert noted that accelerating the industrial application of marine hydrogen fuel cells is one of the ways for the shipping industry to accelerate carbon emission reduction.The construction of China's first hydrogen fuel cell powered working ship shows that China's exploration and application of hydrogen energy technology on inland waterway ships has made a substantial breakthrough,and it is worth looking forward to what the development of greater power hydrogen power and real ship application will bring to the development of marine alternative fuel.

The "Three Gorges Hydrogen Boat 1" is a demonstration ship of the "Key Technology Research of Hydrogen-Fueled Ship" project of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, led by the CSSC Science and Technology Department. The ship has an overall length of 49.9 m,a molded breadth of 10.4 m, a molded depth of 3.2 m, a maximum speed of 28 km/h, and a maximum cruising range of 200 km at an economical speed of 20 km/h. The ship uses hydrogen fuel cells and a lithium battery power system, the hydrogen fuel cell output rating of 500 kW, with the characteristics of high environmental protection, high comfort,low energy consumption and low noise.

Wang Zhen, a senior engineer at the fuel cell division of the 712th Institute, the Three Gorges Hydrogen Boat 1 is equipped with a 500 kW proton exchange membrane hydrogen fuel cell (PEMFC) power system and a high-pressure hydrogen storage system. Its core power equipment was independently developed by the 712th Institute, among which the hydrogen fuel cell power system includes eight 70 kW standard PEMFC modules, 1,800 kWh lithium power battery system,intelligent DC power management center and two sets of 500 kW highefficiency permanent magnet power propulsion modules. Among them, the 500 kW PEMFC power system obtained CCS type approval in July 2021, and obtained the qualification of ship market operation. It is China’s first marine hydrogen fuel cell power system product that meets the latest standards of the classification society.

We learned that the ship has large differences with the automobile power in requirements for power,energy storage and safety, which also means that the auto system can not be used mechanically to the marine hydrogen fuel cell power system, and it is imperative to develop the marine hydrogen fuel cell power system. For the requirements of high power, large energy storage and high safety, the 712th Institute, based on independent research and development, spent more than ten years, finally conquered hundred kW level modular PEMFC development, intelligent DC protection,large capacity lithium battery pack and efficient permanent magnet propulsion technology, and then rolled out the marine fuel cell power system.

The Three Gorges Hydrogen Boat 1 uses high-pressure hydrogen storage technology and can load about 250 kg hydrogen at a time and provide 4,000 kWh electricity. “Unlike automobiles,there is a huge demand for ship energy storage, and we put 32 high-pressure gas cylinders on this ship at a time.”Wang Zhen said that as special requirements of the large capacity HP hydrogen storage system for ventilation and exhausting, fire prevention and explosion prevention bring challenges to the overall design of the ship, the R&D team finally passed the review of the rules and research institute through multiple rounds of iterative design, and won approval of the shipowner.

Up to now, the development of the core power equipment of the “Three Gorges Hydrogen Boat 1” has been basically completed. Next, these key equipment and devices will be sent to China's largest 712th Institute’s 500 kW fuel cell commissioning platform for onshore joint commissioning, and sent to the shipyard for installation.

“Hydrogen fuel cell powered ship technical standard research”in the "Key Technology Research of Hydrogen-Fueled Ship" project was led by CCS, conducted around five aspects-- technical standards for the ship application of hydrogen energy and fuel cell, technical standards for marine fuel cell test, technical standards for hydrogen storage facilities,international maritime regulations for marine fuel cells, and standardization and standard system for marine fuel cells. Up to now, the research project has been basically completed, and will be formally documented soon,providing more rigorous guidance for the marine fuel cell embarkation.

The marine hydrogen fuel cell power generation system developed by the 712th Institute was qualified for market operation in July 2021, and received a supply order in May this year. In fact, the application of ships marks that the industrialization of marine hydrogen fuel cells in China has entered a new stage, providing an important theoretical basis and empirical support for its subsequent development, and building an important test platform. We learn that the 712th Institute has begun to develop next generation megawatt marine hydrogen fuel cell power system and develop a series of products.