Date of Award
2010
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Chemical Engineering (MSChE)
Department
Chemical Engineering
First Advisor
Harold Knickle
Abstract
In today's world two of the biggest issues are the environment and the economy. Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) with a Metal Hydride bed is the most effective and environmentally friendly source of power. The use of hydrogen as a fuel source cuts down on the use of gasoline/diesel and the carbon emissions are little to none. The United States Coast Guard is interested in the idea of implementing a more environmentally and economically friendly system on their cutters.
Methods used to develop this thesis were based upon the USCGC HEALY (WAGB-20), the Coast Guard's largest ship, was used as the model to determine the size of SOFC system that would be needed for an extended deployable Coast Guard Ice Breaker. A 10 kW SOFC plant has been designed with a cell voltage of 0.7V. This SOFC is linearly scalable and therefore can be adjusted to the ship requirements for all of the propulsion systems or just the load of the hotel services. The hydrogen would be supplied using metal hydride bed tanks. The space required for the system has been identified. Parameters of the SOFC including flow rates and number of cells have been determined. The Cost of Electricity (COE) was used to take into account the capital cost, fuel cost, and operating and maintenance costs to determine the economic possibility of an SOFC.
It was determined that meeting the total power requirements of a ship this size would not work. The overall cost and efficiency of the system are not beneficial enough for a vessel this size. A SOFC system would be able to run all or some of the ship's hotel services which are on a smaller scale and that would allow for the gasoline/diesel to be used exclusively for propulsion purposes.
Recommended Citation
Newton, Elizabeth, "REMOTE SITING AND PLANT COST OF A SOFC POWER PLANT FED BY A MIHB IN AN EXTENDED DEPLOYABLE COAST GUARD ICE BREAKER" (2010). Open Access Master's Theses. Paper 2548.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/theses/2548