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The Protium Project
A hybrid electric canal boat using
metal hydride store and a PEM fuel cell
Dr Alex Bevan1, Dr David Book1, Professor Andreas
Züttel2 and Professor Rex Harris1 1University of
Birmingham UK. 2 EMPA Zürich, Switzerland

• Throughout the world there is a huge effort to
  develop an effective, solid state, reversible,
  lightweight hydrogen store for road transport
  applications.
• There are, however, much less demanding transport
  applications which can employ established
  intermetallic metal hydrides as hydrogen stores.
• Development of these systems would allow solid
  state storage technologies to gain a toe-hold
  and hence accumulate invaluable operating
  experience.
• At Birmingham (and in collaboration with EMPA
  Switzerland) we have been developing a hybrid
  electric canal boat using a combination of a
  NdFeB-type permanent magnet electric motor, a
  lead acid battery stack and a PEM fuel cell
  supplied by a (TiV)(FeMn)2 - metal hydride store
  (fig 1)
• The boat weighs 12 tonnes and the volume and
  weight (350 kg metal frame, tank and metal
  hydrides) of the hydrogen storage system can
  readily be accommodated on the vessel, replacing
  the existing ballast.

Key features

• Solid state metal hydride store
• 1kW ReliOn PEM fuel cell (fig 2)
• Computer monitoring and control (fig 3)
• 10kW NdFeB-based drive motor (Fig 4)
• 47kWhr lead acid battery stack
• Display area with LCD screen

Performance
Energy performance of the boat was monitored,
with speed data being provided through GPS
measurements. The motor power requirements vs.
speed (fig 9) shows an exponential relationship
(fitted line). The theoretical range of the boat
(fig 10) has been calculated based on the energy/
speed requirement. Utilizing a fully charged
battery stack with 47kWhrs of energy and 2.5kg of
hydrogen. The metal hydride/ fuel cell
combination increases the boat range by 66
Figure 9 Power requirement vs. Speed
Figure 10 Theoretical boat range vs. Speed
Hydrogen also plays a crucial role in the
manufacture of the NdFeB sintered magnets
employed in the electric motor.
Potential Advantages of a Hybrid System
Key Objectives

• Hydride store has a significantly faster charging
  rate than the batteries
• The craft will have a longer range of operation
  in the hybrid form before needing access to
  electric charging facilities
• Batteries can be trickle-charged using solar
  panels, wind and water generators. PM electric
  motor can also serve as a generator
• Fuel cell would prefer to operate at a constant
  load and any variability can be taken up by the
  battery stack
• Hot water (80C) supplied by fuel cell can be
  used to heat store and living space
• Unlike batteries, hydride stores will not
  discharge on standing idle, even for prolonged
  periods
• Other advantages (and disadvantages) will be
  revealed by operational experience

• Provide vital practical data on the on-board use
  of hydrogen as an energy store.
• Develop the necessary local scale hydrogen
  infrastructure which could provide a model and a
  catalyst for a much larger scale operation
  throughout the entire inland waterway network,
  with Birmingham as the hub.
• Develop technical innovations which will lead to
  wider exploitation of the energy storage and
  propulsion systems.
• Demonstrate an early, practical and economic
  alternative to diesel canal boats.

Project contact Prof Rex Harris (e-mail
i.r.harris_at_bham.ac.uk Tel [phone]
web www.hydrogen.bham.ac.uk)