Environews Innovations

A 236 VOLUME 114 | NUMBER 4 | April 2006 • Environmental Health Perspectives

HarborSafe

Protecting Ports with Shipboard Fuel Cells

Cleaner cruising. A rainbow arches over the guided missile destroyer USS Gonzalez(DDG 66) as it pulls into the Port of Mombasa, Kenya. The U.S. Navy is one of severalgroups investigating the use of fuel cells in its fleet. Fuel cells offer the advantages ofbeing less polluting and quieter than diesel engines.

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I n September 2005, the city of Los Angeles announced a mandate to

cut the air pollution from its harbor. The head of the city’s harbor

commission, S. David Freeman, gave the port managers a sobering direc-

tive: “Start acting like our lives are depending on it,”

he told them, according to the 29 September 2005

Los Angeles Times, “because our lives do depend on

it.” Three months later, the California Air Resources

Board adopted rules that require ships within 24

miles of the state’s coast to reduce diesel emissions to

2001 levels within the next four years. These devel-

opments have shippers scrambling to find a way to

cut emissions. One of the main technologies attract-

ing their attention is the use of fuel cells.

The Full Import

Each year, the Port of Los Angeles—occupying 7,500

acres and 43 miles of waterfront—handles more than

162 million metric revenue tons of cargo (measured

as 1,000 kilograms or 1 cubic meter, whichever is

larger). With the increase in Pacific commerce, port

diesel emissions have increased 60% since 2001, and

the port complex has in 10 years become the single

largest air polluter in the Los Angeles basin, accord-

ing to the 25 September 2005 edition of the Los

Angeles Times.

Nearby residents blame the port for illnesses rang-

ing from asthma to cancer, according to Diane

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Bailey, head of the Health andEnvironment Program for the NaturalResources Defense Council (NRDC)in San Francisco. Studies have linkedparticulate matter from diesel fumesto respiratory illness and cancer.

In an August 2004 report titledHarboring Pollution: Strategies to CleanUp U.S. Ports, the NRDC noted thatbesides direct threats to human health,growing harbor traffic could increaseregional smog, threaten water qualityand public lands, and increase noiseand light pollution. With three of thecountry’s five largest harbors inCalifornia, Bailey says, cutting portpollution and the health impacts onsurrounding communities is a “hugepriority” for the state.

The source of most ship-relatedemissions is Bunker C fuel, a dieselthat produces a thick, sticky residue.(Bunker C gets its name from the erawhen steamships were fired by coalstored in bunkers. When ships shiftedto diesel, crews still used the term“bunker” to include liquid fuel tanks.)Ships in port can also use a kind ofextension cord plugged in to landpower supplies, but Scott Samuelsen,director of the National Fuel CellResearch Center at the University ofCalifornia, Irvine, says these cords can besomewhat dangerous if they get tangled dur-ing loading or unloading. Therefore, mostships in port use diesel engines to provide“hoteling” power—basic lighting, heating,ventilation, and light electricity.

The Beauty of Fuel CellsFuel cells are cleaner than diesel turbines andother internal combustion engines.Samuelsen explains that fuel cells convertenergy from hydrogen directly to electricitywithout combustion; the only residues arewater and heat.

A fuel cell works using the same electro-chemical reaction as the battery under a carhood, Samuelsen explains. But whereas thebattery in your car primarily stores energywhile the engine is turned off, a fuel cell reac-tion provides energy continuously as hydro-gen fuel encounters oxygen. Compared tointernal combustion, says Samuelsen, “thefuel cell is more of a one-stop shop, one reac-tion.” And with fewer moving parts, there’sthe prospect of reduced maintenance.

The NRDC recommended fuel cells as aquieter, cleaner, more efficient power sourcefor ships in Harboring Pollution. Since thereport appeared, Bailey says other technolo-gies have gained momentum, at least in theshort run. Among them are diesel–electrichybrids, more efficient versions of the

locomotive engine, which can cut emissionsby 90% compared with the old diesel enginesused to assemble freights in port rail yards.Another alternative is the gas turbine engine,which has strong marketplace advocates.

In Los Angeles, though, says Samuelsen,“the fuel cell will probably be the preferredchoice.” He adds that California’s regulatoryaction will likely point the direction formaritime energy use elsewhere. As in thedrive toward greater fuel efficiency in auto-mobiles, Samuelsen suggests, the state’s reg-ulatory process will likely drive nationaltechnological advances.

Contemplating Naval StudiesThe U.S. Navy has been exploring ship-board use of fuel cells for some time,

according to Anthony Nickens, aprogram officer with the Office ofNaval Research (ONR) in Arlington,Virginia. Nickens says the Navy isvery interested in the technology forits efficiency and low emissions.“There’s no [nitrogen oxide emis-sions] coming out, there’s no flame,”he says. Fuel cells also permit a “dis-tributed” power system design; theycan be located at different points inthe ship, away from the ship’s princi-pal exhaust stack system, unlike con-ventional power-generation andpropulsion engines. This flexibilitycan improve ship survivability in theevent of an accident or enemy attack,according to an ONR press releasefrom February 2004.

So far, fuel cells are still in ademonstration phase supervised byONR’s science and technology staff.“I think we can get there in five, sevenyears,” says Nickens of the Navy’splans for fuel cell–powered vessels.One demonstration for the Navy bySandia National Laboratories and PlugPower, a company based in NewYork, was completed in August 2005.The project tested 20 fuel cells atnaval support sites in California, New

York, and Hawaii, and proved their ability toprovide heat and power for land-based func-tions. Abbas Ali Akhil, Sandia’s energy ana-lyst on the project, says a final report on thatdemonstration will be completed later thisspring. Meanwhile, test results from locationsin three states are available at the Sandia web-site [see Suggested Reading below].

Steven Eschbach, director of investorrelations and communications for FuelCellEnergy, based in Danbury, Connecticut,says his company, too, has been working forseveral years to provide the Navy with aland-based demonstration of shipboard fuelcells for providing hoteling power to stealthdestroyers. Eschbach says the silence of fuelcells is an important benefit for stealthdestroyers, but it also helps that these power

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Sugge s t ed Read ingBailey D, Plenys T, Solomon GM, Campbell TR, Feuer GR, Masters J, et al. 2004.

Harboring Pollution: Strategies to Clean Up U.S. Ports. New York, NY: NaturalResources Defense Council. Available: http://www.nrdc.org/air/pollution/ports/ports2.pdf.

European Commission. 2004. Fuel Cells in Ships—Synthesis of Open Problems andRoadmap for Future RTD. Avai lable: http://www.na-me.ac.uk/fcship/FCSHIP%20RTD%20Roadmap.pdf.

National Fuel Cell Research Center, University of California, Irvine. Fuel cell informa-tion [website]. Available: http://www.nfcrc.uci.edu/fcresources/index.htm.

Sandia National Laboratories. Navy fuel cell demonstration sites [website]. Available:http://www.sandia.gov/fuel_cell/index.htm.

Hot box. The 625 Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell Reformer System(fuel cell stack is out of view) produces methane from high-sulfurlogistics fuel to power the fuel cell stack with an expected effi-ciency of 47–50%. The system is being land-tested by the Officeof Naval Research, and will be installed at the Naval Sea SystemCommand’s engineering facilities in Philadelphia in 2007 forextended testing.

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sources are more efficient (47% electricalefficiency—the portion of total energy inthe reaction that is translated into usableelectrical power—compared to 30–40% fordiesel engines) and 99% cleaner, especiallyin terms of nitrogen oxide, sulfur oxide, andparticulate emissions. The company is cur-rently testing peripheral components of thefuel cell power plant and will soon integratethose with a fuel cell stack for complete sys-tem verification.

Another key advantage to the fuel cellapproach is that the hydrogen needed for theelectrochemical power generation is internal-ly purified in the fuel cell module. “We don’tneed a hydrogen infrastructure for our fuelcells to operate,” Eschbach says. The compa-ny plans to continue testing this spring, fol-lowed by delivery of the fuel cell system laterthis year pending funding from the Navy.

The German Navy also is exploringfuel cells and in October 2005 commis-sioned two new fuel cell–powered sub-marines from Siemens KWU, according toa 23 January 2006 report by the onlineindustry publication Fuel Cell Today. TheSiemens model uses a solid polymer elec-trolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell to directhydrogen ions to a cathode for reactionwith oxygen inside a pressurized housing.PEM cells, operating at temperatures lessthan 80ºC, are reportedly 60% efficient,

according to FuelCell Today.

CommercialApplicationsFor commercial ships, Samuelsen expects tosee design prototypes in about five years,spearheaded by one or two shipping compa-nies that pave the way. He also expects theshift to be gradual, with “a few decadesbefore the momentum grows,” he says. Afterall, the new laws dictate reduced ship emis-sions, but they don’t dictate fuel cells as theonly way to get there.

For cruise operators wanting to spotlightan environment-friendly fleet and give pas-sengers a quieter cruise experience, fuel cellsmay be especially appealing. Calá Corp-oration, a cruise line operator based inTitusville, Florida, has plans to build threecruise ships equipped with fuel cells, saysCEO Joseph Calá. The fuel cells will providehoteling power for electricity as well as powerat low speeds (under 8 knots). Calá expectsthe first vessel to be ready by 2008. Each willbe equipped with about 20 cells providing500 kilowatts apiece. Calá estimates that thecells will save perhaps $1 million in fuel eachyear. Cruising at 16 knots, he says a ship canburn up to $35,000 in fuel a day.

Calá, who became interested in fuel cells’promise 12 years ago, maintains that nautical

engineers aren’t moving fast enough in fur-thering the technology. “They need to bringin people with vision,” he says. “They needto expand their minds and imagination.”

Several technical challenges remain, notesJohn Weidner, a chemical engineering pro-fessor at the University of South Carolina.Unlike other forms of energy, fuel cells don’toffer economies of scale for making the largeunits needed for ships. This is due to the sim-plicity of the fuel cell chemical reaction.There are no moving parts you can acceleratefor a bigger bang; the energy output is strictlyrelated to the size of the cell. “You can makethem big, but if you make it ten times bigger,it costs ten times as much,” says Weidner.Furthermore, in some applications, durabilityof the fuel cell’s electrolyte is still an issue. Forsome types of fuel cells, including molten car-bonate cells, the high temperatures involveddecrease cell life.

Despite these challenges, the technologyis promising for maritime use. As moreresearch comes online, we can likely expect tosee fuel cells surging full steam ahead.

David A. Taylor

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Picturing the future fleet. Artist’s concepts of two potential ships thatmay use fuel cells in the not-too-distant future: (above) a design by aNorthrop Grumman Corporation–led team of the U.S. Navy’s 21st centu-ry surface combatant, and (right) Calá Corporation’s fuel cell–poweredluxury cruise ship.

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