PhD position Fuel cell system integration in ship power & propulsion systems and heat networks

The SH2IPDRIVE project develops zero emission power and propulsion solutions for ships based on hydrogen in a broad consortium across the Dutch maritime sector, from fleet owner to ship designer and from shipyard to start-up. In this project, Delft University of Technology performs applied and fundamental research into hydrogen storage in liquid organic carriers and metal hydrides, hydrogen bunkering, fuel cell systems, system integration, data collection and safety for ships. The researchers, consisting of 9 PhD positions, one postdoc position and an experienced supervision team of the M&TT and P&E department of the 3ME faculty, develop models, methodologies, algorithms and concept designs for hydrogen power and propulsion systems for ships.

In this position, you will work on the integration of high temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems in the onboard heat & energy distribution network of ships. SOFCs hold great potential benefits in terms of fuel flexibility, waste heat recovery and efficiency. However, successful integration in ships require new approaches to design and optimise main and auxiliary systems as well as ship networks. You will develop models to quantify fuel consumption, heat availability and degradation for various duty cycles. These models will be parameterised and validated using experimental and/or operational data. The validated models will be used to develop a framework to scale system components and modularity for different operational profiles.

You will be working in the Marine Engineering group of the Ship Design, Production and Operation section at the Maritime and Transport Technology department. In addition, you will be working closely with other researchers working within SH2IPDRIVE and other related topics and projects, at TU Delft partner institutions and companies.