High-fidelity modelling of a fuel cell system for shipping industry

In recent years, both gasoline and diesel engines dominated the maritime sector, having the complete control of the market at any type boat level. Nowadays, the greenhouse gases and pollutant emissions have become significant issues that must be addressed. In this regard, many renewable energy sources have been proposed in order to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. Among these, the hydrogen-powered fuel cells are definitely a promising solution, due to their zero emissions. This thesis aims to propose an high-fidelity and high-speed modelling of a fuel cell system for shipping industry. In particular, it's modelled an hydrogen-propelled Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell with all the auxiliary components that are essential for a correct operation. The hydrogen is stored in a pressurized tank and through a pressure-reducing valve it flows up to the anode gas channels of the fuel cell. Hydrogen reacts with the oxygen of the air, that is drawn by a compressor and then fed to the fuel cell. In order to improve the performance and the efficiency of the system, a moisture humidifier is considered on both anode and cathode side. Finally, a cooling system maintains the suitable fuel cell temperature. The whole system is modelled on MATLAB and Simulink environment. To validate the model, are carried a thousand simulations in which is compared the model with the PEM Fuel Cell Simscape model proposed by Mathworks, Inc. Specifically, the comparison is conducted on all the relevant quantities that govern the system operation. Thus, is performed an error analysis and a performance evaluation of the model. Moreover, it's shown that the proposed model is able to provide very similar result but with a simulation time that is drastically reduced and a easier parameters handling and design changing. Finally, as the model has been validated, are presented possible maritime scenario in which a PEM fuel cell can be adopted as primary energy source. The purpose is to verify which is the most adequate situation for exploiting a fuel cell. This is executed by taking into account several technical factor as fuel cell dynamics, power required, hydrogen consumed and hydrogen refueling. Thus, is provided a straightforward economical analysis on the feasibility of employing a fuel cell for a certain ship route rather than another one.