Oxidative Methanol Reforming for Hydrogen-fed HT-PEMFC: Applications in the Naval Sector

CO2 emissions from marine transport contributes to about 3% of the overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. International regulations and the Paris agreement require to cut them by 50% by 2050. Moreover, the latest International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations strongly limits SOx emissions. One of the most promising alternatives to conventional fuels is hydrogen, which can meet the environmental targets set by the international community, if coupled with H2-fed PEM fuel cells (PEMFCs) due to their high efficiency. On-board H2 production starting from a suitable liquid source can be competitive compared to compressed/liquid H2. Methanol (MeOH) is a suitable candidate due to: high H2 content, relatively low reforming temperature, absence of sulfur compounds, and the possibility of being obtained from renewable materials. This work investigates the coupling of autothermal oxidative MeOH steam reforming (OSRM) with high temperature PEMFCs (HT-PEMFCs). The latter outperforms low temperature (LT) PEMFCs, concerning resistance to CO poisoning and high operating temperature, allowing an integrated OSMR reactor – HT-PEMFC and energetically self-sustaining system. The integrated system has also been designed considering also MeOH storage tank and the main auxiliary units, and the dimensions appear very interesting for the installation on board of ships, also in terms of emissions.