This year, on the 2nd of July 2024, EFCF organised the Sustainable Shipping Days 2024 in Lucerne. The event aimed to explore and promote advancements in maritime sustainability through the integration of fuel cell-based onboard energy systems and electrolysis technology at ports for fuel supply. During the day, researchers had the possibility to show posters and speak with stakeholders interested in the topic.

Four AMON Partners had a poster during the SSD2024 to explain different aspects of the project: VTT Technical Research Centre (Finland), Technical University of Denmark (Denmark), Fondazione Bruno Kessler (Italy) and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland)

 Werneri Huthinen (VTT) presented the poster entitled “Testing Platform for SOFC Stack Modules Utilising Marine Fuels” which outlines the comprehensive testing platform developed to characterise and validate ammonia and methanol as alternative fuels for SOFC stack modules. As reported in the abstract, “this platform accommodates SOFC stack modules up to 15 kW and operates alongside expanded infrastructures for ammonia storage and methanol distribution. The integrated BoP components have been designed and selected based on the compatibility of materials with marine fuels. Special attention has been devoted to safety measures, particularly regarding ammonia detection and the implementation of safety protocols. This developed platform will be utilised in two separate projects, focusing on stack module performance with marine fuels.”

Arash Nemati (DTU) presented the poster “Development of ammonia fueled SOFCs – from catalyst to system level” where the activities performed by DTU to design an efficient and durable ammonia-fueled SOFC system were analysed. As reported in the abstract “The ammonia cracking is tested and simulated on different catalysts. The developed model for ammonia cracking is transferred to simulate the SOFC cell and stack. Finally, a novel multiscale multiphysics modeling approach is used to design the final system. In a parallel path of the investigations, SOFC cell and different cells are exposed to the ammonia environment, and the durability of these components is examined in different setups. The next step is to find solutions to avoid nitriding in the interconnects in the SOFC stacks.”

Luca Pratticò’s (FBK) poster was entitled “Direct use of ammonia in solid oxide fuel cells to the next generation of ammonia fuel cell systems” and gave a general overview of the project AMON reporting the scope, expected impact and methodology.

Last but not least, Xinyi Wei (EPFL) presented the poster entitled “Strategic Insights into Non-Carbon Energy: Comparative Analysis of Hydrogen and Ammonia in Solid Oxide Fuel Cell”, where data about performance were reported.