Compact Electric Energy Storage for Marine Vehicles Using on-Board Hydrogen Production

The use of electric energy in marine vessels has been increasing in recent years. In general, it is motivated by the low ecological impact. However, in the case of underwater vehicles it is functionally essential. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the advantage of electric power generation and storage based on on-board hydrogen generation via the reaction between activated aluminum and water and application of the hydrogen in a fuel cell. The original activation process enabling a spontaneous reaction with water to produce hydrogen as well as a parametric study of hydrogen generation rate and yield are briefly described. The potential increase in specific energy (energy per unit mass) and energy density (energy per unit volume) vs. batteries and other means of hydrogen storage is presented. It is shown that the use of the present technology may result in a substantial increase of specific electric energy along with a reduction in volume or an increase in operating time for the same overall mass of energy storage and generation system.