Powertrain | Diesel International 2022-09

MARINE
#GEMINIANI #ASLABRUNA #AUTOGAS
Massimo Labruna is also a regular
exhibitor of the Venice Arsenal, and
we talked about hydrogen with him:
closest to the AS Labruna’s stand was
a demo. “We have come up with a concept,
in every sense of the word, that
is scalable to larger vessels, where the
criticality comes from the power of
the fuel cells, with a bar raised to 300
kilowatts, which is still a respectable
power. This is how we plan to solve the
long-standing problem of the autonomy
of full-electric boats. The vessel
is equipped with two electric motors,
a buffer battery pack and hydrogen
fuel cells that recharge the batteries.
Summarising and detailing the architecture,
there are two outboard motors
of 6 kilowatts each, while the battery
pack delivers just 5 kilowatts. So, with
an installed power of 12 kilowatts, the
tute for generators in serial hybrids. In
our hydrogen journey, we had started
with methanol fuel cells, obtained by
CO 2
abatement. That project is still
up and running, albeit on very small
sizes. Here in Venice, we are showing
another approach, since in this case
we started off with a completely electric
boat. Today we can boast an absolutely
complete electric range, with
electric outboards and inboards, electric
pods, hybrid kits on both high and
low-powered diesels, serial and parallel
hybrids, fuel cells, hydrogen and
methanol. The general principle that
inspires us is the maximum reduction
of the battery pack, also because if you
don’t have a power source on board
you have to recharge it at the dock.
This problem is solved if there is a renewable
source on board; without divcapacity
of the battery pack is 5 kilowatt-hours.
The two-kilowatt fuel cells
can run for about 10 hours, thanks
to the on-board hydrogen cylinders,
which on the anchor model contain
30 litres. Essentially, I have stored 20
kilowatt-hours of energy, in addition to
5 kWh obtained from buffer batteries,
which gives us a significant autonomy,
bypassing the most difficult limitation
of all-electric power supplies. In order
to increase the autonomy, it would be
necessary to increase the battery packs,
thus increasing weight and costs, since
the boat runs at reduced speed and
does consume more to achieve the
same performance. There is a threshold
limit that cannot be exceeded.
In this system, the fuel cells function
as range extenders, thus enabling a
greater autonomy, acting as a substi-
ing into waters, this is an issue concerning
any application, even cars.
In order to store energy, the battery
needs a long recharge time, unlike the
hydrogen cylinder or methanol tank”.
Also at the AS Lavruna stand was
CMD’s BlueHybrid system, equipped
with a hybrid control unit, which controls
both the endothermic engine and
the electric motor and communicates
with the GPS signal, so that it automatically
converts the navigation to
the electric mode.
In 2021 Autogas, acquired by Ecomotive
Solutions, broke the threshold of
3,000 bifuel petrol/LPG conversions
on vessels. At the time, they told us of
a detail that is also suitable for lagoons
and bays at these latitudes (Venice,
Scardovari, Marano, Grado), namely
the “particular and specific use in
large fishing farms, where, for moving
between breeding basins, the use
of vessels with LPG-powered engines
contributes to maintaining clean waters
for a more valuable and higher
quality catch.” So, the gazebo of Autogas,
owned by Ecomotive Solutions,
could not be missing. They confirm
us that they are there to incentivise the
retrofitting system of outboard/inboard
petrol-powered vessels that have been
fully converted to LPG. The kits, which
are definitely inexpensive, comply with
the regulations drawn up by the Ministry
of Transports, and are available
both with fixed on-board cylinders and
with transportable cylinders, which are
specially constructed following the automotive
logic, to facilitate refuelling.
Generally, a transportable cylinder cannot
be refuelled at the station because it
has no level and “overflow” indicator,
i.e. it does not stop at 80 percent of its
capacity. This one, on the contrary, has
the same automatic system as a car so,
once it gets to 80 percent, it stops refuelling.
Plus, there is a quick coupling,
clearly designed for boats compatible
with this storage, which is 30 litres.
They tell us of “a 75-litre version that
allows for 8/9 hours of autonomy with
a 60-horsepower outboard engine. The
Venetians are showing interest in this
system. In terms of costs, such conversion
would be around 2,500 euros. We
just did a quick calculation with the
owner of a boat with inboard engine
equipped with two 200-horsepower engines.
By putting 200 litres of LPG on
board, it would cost him around 5,000
euros. And on a boat that consumes 60
litres/hour of petrol...”
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