Hybrid Hydrogen Fuel Cell and Internal Combustion Engine powertrain arrangements for large maritime applications
Hybrid Hydrogen Fuel Cell and Internal Combustion Engine powertrain arrangements for large maritime applications
Hydrogen as a maritime fuel can be used both in internal combustion engines (HyICE) and with fuel cells (FC). Batteries are required for FC to mediate load fluctuations and can be used with HyICE to reduce installed capacity at the cost of added mass and volume. This study compares the energy efficiency, mass and volume requirements for four hybrid configurations of hydrogen FCs, ICE, and batteries benchmarked against a direct drive diesel ICE. A 136.1 m long, 17.65 MW installed power, 1700 passenger ferry operating a 220 nautical mile liner service is chosen as a representative ship with a total voyage energy demand of 0.51 TJ. Such vessels are likely to provide a starting point in shipping fuel transition to zero carbon as mandated by the International Maritime Organisation. The comparative analysis uses recorded time-domain voyage power demand data and a matching time accurate Python model of the various power train configurations to provide a matching power supply. Results show that HyICE–battery systems achieve ∼49 % efficiency. The FC–battery hybrid has the highest efficiency (∼54 %). A triple hybrid of HyICE, FC, and batteries reduces battery capacity, mass, and volume by 72 % compared to FC–battery systems, without loss of efficiency.
HydrogenDecarbonisationShippingNet-zeroEfficiencyFuel cellsCombustionBatteriesHybrids
1-19
Manias, Panos
e550032b-d811-4f3c-b4da-4f5e542aa8ad
Teagle, Damon
396539c5-acbe-4dfa-bb9b-94af878fe286
Hudson, Dominic
3814e08b-1993-4e78-b5a4-2598c40af8e7
Turnock, Stephen
d6442f5c-d9af-4fdb-8406-7c79a92b26ce
Manias, Panos
e550032b-d811-4f3c-b4da-4f5e542aa8ad
Teagle, Damon
396539c5-acbe-4dfa-bb9b-94af878fe286
Hudson, Dominic
3814e08b-1993-4e78-b5a4-2598c40af8e7
Turnock, Stephen
d6442f5c-d9af-4fdb-8406-7c79a92b26ce
Manias, Panos, Teagle, Damon, Hudson, Dominic and Turnock, Stephen
(2026)
Hybrid Hydrogen Fuel Cell and Internal Combustion Engine powertrain arrangements for large maritime applications.
Ocean Engineering, 343 (123505), .
Abstract
Hydrogen as a maritime fuel can be used both in internal combustion engines (HyICE) and with fuel cells (FC). Batteries are required for FC to mediate load fluctuations and can be used with HyICE to reduce installed capacity at the cost of added mass and volume. This study compares the energy efficiency, mass and volume requirements for four hybrid configurations of hydrogen FCs, ICE, and batteries benchmarked against a direct drive diesel ICE. A 136.1 m long, 17.65 MW installed power, 1700 passenger ferry operating a 220 nautical mile liner service is chosen as a representative ship with a total voyage energy demand of 0.51 TJ. Such vessels are likely to provide a starting point in shipping fuel transition to zero carbon as mandated by the International Maritime Organisation. The comparative analysis uses recorded time-domain voyage power demand data and a matching time accurate Python model of the various power train configurations to provide a matching power supply. Results show that HyICE–battery systems achieve ∼49 % efficiency. The FC–battery hybrid has the highest efficiency (∼54 %). A triple hybrid of HyICE, FC, and batteries reduces battery capacity, mass, and volume by 72 % compared to FC–battery systems, without loss of efficiency.
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Accepted/In Press date: 9 November 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 15 January 2026
Keywords:
HydrogenDecarbonisationShippingNet-zeroEfficiencyFuel cellsCombustionBatteriesHybrids
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 507167
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/507167
ISSN: 0029-8018
PURE UUID: 7ed96edd-4537-4c26-be8c-c8f2726a927a
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Date deposited: 28 Nov 2025 17:35
Last modified: 29 Nov 2025 02:36
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Author:
Panos Manias
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