An ideal method - Powering ships with hydrogen from methanol

Researchers at Fraunhofer-Institut für Keramische Technologien und Systeme have joined forces with partners to develop the HyMethShip concept, in which hydrogen is obtained from methanol. This technology does not require large hydrogen tanks to be carried on board, making it much safer. In the future, it may also prove to be an attractive solution for cruise liners. The EU-funded HyMethShip project uses methanol as a liquid hydrogen carrier. In this concept, the ship is refueled with methanol at port. On board, hydrogen is obtained from the methanol through a steam reforming process and is used for ship propulsion. The methanol is mixed with water, then evaporated by applying heat and fed into the preheated reactor, where the mix of methanol and water is converted into hydrogen and CO2. The hydrogen molecules escape through the extremely fine pores of the membrane, while the larger carbon dioxide gas molecules are retained. In this process, the hydrogen achieves a purity level of more than 90 percent. When the ship arrives at port, the CO2 is fed into tanks and can then be used for the next methanol synthesis process.


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