Marine Scheme and Experimental Study of Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier Technology

Liquid organic hydrogen carrier technology, with its characteristics of high mass and volume hydrogen storage density, normal temperature and pressure storage and replenishment, and repeated cycles and long life, is a potential solution for large-scale hydrogen storage and transportation, as well as an ideal hydrogen storage technology in the marine field. This paper proposes a marine fuel cell system solution based on liquid organic hydrogen carrier technology for specific ship types. Then, hydrogen storage and release experiments were carried out on a 40 kW level liquid organic hydrogen carrier device to verify its hydrogen storage efficiency, release efficiency, and reaction internal friction. Through experiments and theoretical calculations, it was also proved that the hydrogen catalytic combustion heating scheme can improve the effective utilization rate of hydrogen by 25% compared to the electric heating scheme. Finally, an operational compatibility test was conducted between the liquid organic hydrogen carrier device and the proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The research results indicate that the liquid organic hydrogen carrier technology has no significant differences from traditional high-pressure hydrogen storage technology in terms of hydrogen supply flow stability and impact on the electrical performance of the fuel cell stack, and it was verified that its release rate, pressure, and purity of hydrogen can meet the needs of stable power generation by fuel cells.