NAUTILUS - SOFC systems in shipping

Abstract

NAUTILUS is an EU-funded initiative under Horizon 2020 (Grant No. 861647), designed to developing a disruptive low-emission Genset for large passenger ships, by developing an innovative SOFC and battery hybrid to drastically reduce CO2 and non-CO2 emissions. After designing of the system, development of the technology blocks, and testing of hardware as proof of concept in the project, the NAUTILUS Genset functional demonstrator is being built at DLR facilities in Stuttgart. The project's building and operation of a 30 kW laboratory proof-of-concept has demonstrated the NAUTILUS genset's ability to respond to transient power demands representative of a ship's demand, thanks to the fast transient response of the battery using an energy management system (EMS). Furthermore, three different EMS load-following strategies were tested, showing the potential of adaptive online strategies to save fuel consumption by up to 9%.