New! 23rd September 2010
The METHAPU project reached a significant milestone in mid May 2010 when the METHAPU fuel cell system, comprising the methanol tank container and the fuel cell room was installed onboard the car carrier M/V Undine. The bunkering and supply lines for methanol had been installed earlier during preparation phase together with other modifications to the ship.
All in all the whole fuel cell system comprises
· Bunkering system
· Methanol storage tank container
· Methanol supply and return line
· Fuel cell room with the fuel cell unit and a purge gas container
The installation was made possible as a joint effort from the project consortium with extensive work, not only on the design and manufacturing, but also on the safety analysis and assessment, among other areas.
Courtesy of Timo Lehtinen, Wärtsilä.
Prologue:
In Sept 2009, the fuel cell room and the fuel cell unit were ready from the workshop. Delivery inspections were carried out for the system after which the fuel cell room including the fuel cell unit were transported to Espoo (Finland) for laboratory tests in Wärtsilä facilities.
Courtesy of Mikael Björklund, Wärtsilä.
Oct 2009 – March 2010, start-up preparations and improvement work on the fuel cell unit. The first part of this period covering start-up preparations such as installation of the fuel cell room to the surroundings. The latter part comprising functional checks of the system, among others.
The activities during the laboratory tests proved valuable as providing input for further improvements for the fuel cell unit. The improvements were implemented in advance of the actual test operation of the fuel cell unit in April.
Courtesy of Hannu Ali-Löytty, Wärtsilä.
Courtesy of Hannu Ali-Löytty, Wärtsilä.
April 2010, Factory acceptance test in Espoo with stakeholders present. Wärtsilä, Wallenius Marine, Lloyd’s Register and Swedish Transport Agency representatives were present.
Operation of fuel cell unit was continued for some more days, until transport preparations were commenced. Fuel cell room was detached from the testing environment and the system was secured for transport.
May 2010, starting 5th May the fuel cell room was shipped to Turku (Finland) harbour for sea transport to Bremerhaven (Germany).
Installation
The installation took place in Bremerhaven (Germany). After successful installation the harbour acceptance test (HAT) was carried out for the whole fuel cell system. Participants in the HAT were the same as for the FAT in Finland.
Courtesy of Andreas Söderberg, Wallenius Marine.
Courtesy of Timo Lehtinen, Wärtsilä.
Upon departure from Bremerhaven Undine continued to Gothenburg (Sweden). During this short sea voyage final preparations for the start-up were carried out.
The fuel cell unit was started when Undine was out of Gothenburg on her way to Zeebrügge (Belgium). After this Undine headed via Southampton across the Atlantic for Halifax and the North American coast.
Courtesy of Timo Lehtinen, Wärtsilä.