Low pollution, high efficiency and long life for fuel power battery well-known publicity slogans, and these factors also help fuel power battery paste, the symbol of environmental protection and the battery has been recently Swiss scientists at the ecole polytechnique federale in lausanne (EPFL) phase, they have developed is suitable for large cruise ship fuel power battery system, greatly reduce cruise carbon emissions, Operation efficiency is up to 75% higher.
Shipping is a very high oil and carbon emitter, accounting for 2.2 percent of global co2 emissions, but they are facing the challenge of the energy transition. The INTERNATIONAL Maritime Organization of the United Nations completed an agreement in April 2018, and the global co2 emissions from ships must be reduced by 50 percent from 2008 levels by 2050. This is forcing companies to move away from the low-cost, high-polluting heavy fuels of the past and design new fleets.
But what low-carbon energy technology is suitable for cruise ships? Is different from the ship or other commercial ships, energy is only used to push the ship to go forward, cruise ship is equipped with the dance floor, restaurants and amusement facilities and all kinds of luxurious rooms, power consumption is very large, and the current lithium ion battery life can't get on a cruise ship tourism, although hydrogen fuel power battery capacity can be customized, but the battery will basically take cruise ships a third of the space volume, Clearly neither of these fits.
In response, the EPFL team decided to use solid oxide fuel Power Cells (SOFC), which are efficient, low-emission devices made of solid oxide or ceramic electrolytes. Although they need to operate at high temperatures and have a start-up time of up to 20 hours, this is not too much of a problem for cruise ships.
To make the most of SOFC's power, the team also modified the battery system to convert excess energy from the fuel-powered battery into hydrogen, so that the ship could use more energy. EPFL has developed a new SOFC battery that is 75 percent more efficient than conventional diesel engines, which emit large amounts of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide, instead of just carbon and water.
But with new technologies, cost is as big a challenge as ever. Fuel-powered cells cost 10 times as much to manufacture as conventional engines, says Francescobaldi, a research fellow in industrial process and energy systems engineering at EPFL. But in the future, when demand increases, the price is expected to fall. It should be only 20-30% more expensive than conventional diesels.
Optimistic about the advantages of low pollution and high efficiency of fuel power battery system, many manufacturers also began to use this series of batteries to supply power for ships. For example, in 2014, the tourist ship "Star of Hope" was launched in The Sun Moon Lake with lithium ion batteries, proton exchange fuel power batteries and solar energy. Others are using other green technologies to reduce carbon emissions. Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten, for example, in 2018 planned to produce methane from organic waste, such as dead fish and kitchen waste, and then turn it into fuel for its ships, with a target of 2021.