China’s first hydrogen fuel cell powered boat “Three Gorges Hydrogen Boat No. 1” was successfully launched in Guangdong. It was invested and constructed by Jianglong Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. for China Yangtze Power Co., Ltd. and was drawing-reviewed and inspected by CCS. This boat is a demonstration boat of high-tech boat R&D projects, and has set an example for China’s inland waterways ships shifting towards “zero pollution and zero emissions”.
“Three Gorges Hydrogen Boat No. 1”, about 49.9 m long and 10.4 m wide, capable of reaching a maximum speed of 28 km/h, is a passenger catamaran having a clean blue and white look and a hydrogen energy sign It is designed according to Class B service area and Class J2 service section of inland waterways and has a main hull of steel and superstructures of aluminum and glass curtain wall construction. The boat is powered by a 500 kW hydrogen fuel cell together with a 1800 kW·h lithium battery system.
The “Three Gorges Hydrogen Boat No. 1” was designed by Wuhan Changjiang Ship Design Institute Co., Ltd., and its fuel cell system and lithium battery system were designed by the No. 712 Research Institute of China Shipping Group Co., Ltd. It has a maximum cruise range of 200km at the economic speed. it also makes better environmental protection, better comfort, less energy consumption and less noise. The boat has obtained the characters of classification and class notations of FC-POWER 1, Green Ship-3, I-ship (M), EEDI-3 and Electrical Propulsion System, and has a higher green and intelligent ship rating. To promote the widespread application of hydrogen energy in the Three Gorges waters, the Three Gorges Group has invested heavily in supporting the construction of shore-based hydrogen stations to ensure the transfer of hydrogen to ships.
In the process of project implementation, the Drawing Review Project Team of CCS Wuhan Rules & Regulation Institute has actively kept the ship construction progress and cooperated with the ship construction drawing requirements. The technical personnel of the project team has repeatedly conducted point-to-point technical services with the ship owner, fuel cell system manufacturer, and designer on such key issues as hydrogen fuel power, system layout, etc., and assisted the 712 Research Institute in completing the type test and inspection of marine fuel cells. They have proposed a design scheme for the fuel cell treatment that meets the design criteria of the IMO “Interim Guidelines for the Safety of Ships Using Fuel Cell Power Installations”, carried out hydrogen leakage in the hydrogen cylinder storage room, as well as simulation analysis of the consequences of diffusion disasters, and helped the designer to work out a feasible ship layout scheme.
During the construction, the Construction Office of CCS Wuhan Branch has overcome the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic and provided high-quality and efficient inspection services and technical support to the shipowner and shipyard based on all aspects of new shipbuilding. Under the high attention and coordination of the headquarters, a symposium was held on the difficulties in the construction of hydrogen cells. The Construction Office organized the drawing review, specification and product departments to Jianglong Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. to provide technical support before on-board installation of the hydrogen supply unit, in order to address the demand for welding of hydrogen pipelines and certification of hydrogen systems, and ensure that the boat is launched on schedule.
This use of hydrogen fuel cells will provide an important theoretical basis and data support for the subsequent promotion of hydrogen fuel cell boats in China. It also provides an important experimental platform for the testing and experiment of hydrogen fuel cell boats in China, marking that the key technologies of hydrogen fuel cell boats in China have reached a new level.
CCS will also, as always, fully serve the customers, provide technical supports and services for the application of new energy power on ships, and contribute to the green, intelligent and sustainable development of the ship industry.
Source CCS China Classification Society