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Hydrogen technologies??

Discussion in 'Technical Discussion' started by mwagner1, Sep 11, 2005.

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  1. mwagner1, Sep 11, 2005
    #1
    mwagner1

    mwagner1 Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Greetings!!!

    I am a new user here and I am looking at building an expedition style yacht starting in early 2006.

    With fuel prices climbing (and my strong desire to be as environmentally friendly as possible!!) I was wondering if there are any current technologies that allow for both hydrogen gen sets and hydrogen engines (large Bhp) for larger yachts.

    I found a site for a company in Florida called HaveBlue (www.haveblue.com) and they are making hydrogen powered engines for small sail and fishing boats.

    At one time I had bookmarked the website of a company who listed large gen sets that ran on hydrogen, but when my computer gave me the dreaded blue screen of death, I lost that bookmark (as well as MANY others).

    I also have a friend who swears that he read that the navy of one of the Scandinavian countries had their ships powered by hydrogen engines.

    Any ideas or knowledge??

    Many thanks!!!

    Mark
  2. AMG, Sep 11, 2005
    #2
    AMG

    AMG YF Moderator

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    Hi Mark and welcome!

    Instead of repeating what is already said on this subject, I suggest that you click on "Search" in the heading and type in Hydrogen. There you will find some links and discussions on fuel cells a o.

    In general I think it is about ten years before development has brought the prices down to realistic levels.

    On Navy-ships, I think there are many trials around the world, but I have not heard of any major ships running on hydrogen?
  3. Crewagency, Sep 12, 2005
    #3
    Crewagency

    Crewagency Guest

    Hydrogen yachts

    Hi mark, a warm welcome on the yachtforums.
    Exactly in this moment i am also planning to build a 40-50m Explorer yacht with fuel cell technology and collected many informations from shipyards and other companies who are working on a solution.
    The bad news are that this technology will come in earliest 4-5 years on the yacht market. In the moment it is possible to realize the complete normal power for a yacht with fuel cells but not for the propulsion. For example you will need 2 times a day 40 tons of hydrogen for a propulsion a round 2x 850 KW.
    If you want get in direct contact to share some informations.
    Thanks
  4. YachtForums, Sep 12, 2005
    #4
    YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

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    Duffy launched one of the first fuel cell powered boats (a 30' water taxi) back in 2003, using a combination of Millennium Cell's hydrogen on demand technology, coupled with 4 Anuvu's Fuel Cell stacks. The PEM's stacked together (1.5 KW each) provided current for a 20 horsepower electric motor, which resulted in a 9 mph top speed. Millennium's fuel is derived from passing a sodium borate solution through a catalyst chamber that releases hydrogen as needed. Although expensive to produce, large scale refining will bring down costs.

    The real commercial market for fuel cells is stationary and portable power. This is has been a primary focus of fuel cell companies that are not engaged in the transportation markets. It is likely the first fuel cells to be integrated into yachts will be for auxillary power or a back up system, which is a direct reflection of the the power output and size of the units that will become commercially available in the short term.

    I would expect sailboats will be among the first to adapt fuel cells because it represent the ideals of this group...quiet, clean and inexpensive power that is not used as a primary propulsion source.
  5. Codger, Sep 16, 2005
    #5
    Codger

    Codger YF Wisdom Dept.

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    Alternative to H.... Cats!

    German inventor says he's found a way to make cheap diesel fuel out of dead cats.

    Dr Christian Koch, 55, from Kleinhartmannsdorf, said his method uses old tyres, weeds and animal cadavers.

    They are heated up to 300 Celsius to filter out hydrocarbon which is then turned into diesel by a catalytic converter.

    He said the resulting "high quality bio-diesel" costs just 15 pence per litre.

    Koch said the cadaver of a fully grown cat can produce 2.5 litres of fuel - meaning around 20 cats are needed for a full tank.

    He said, "I tank my car with my own diesel mixture and have driven it for 105,000 miles without any problems."

    Annelise Krauss of the Dresden Animal Protection Association blasted Koch's new diesel though, saying, "This is as bad as experimenting on animals.

    http://www.wusatv9.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=42960