Technical feasibility of a methanol-fueled SOFC system for the propulsion of bulk carrier ships

Methanol has recently gained considerable attention as a marine fuel due to its ease of handling, operational safety, and compatibility with existing onboard systems. However, its adoption still requires comprehensive evaluation from both technical and environmental perspectives. This study aims to assess the potential of methanol as an alternative fuel for a high-efficiency solid oxide fuel cell power system by identifying the conditions under which it could outperform traditional marine propulsion solutions. To this end, a detailed numerical procedure is applied to evaluate the technical feasibility of implementing a methanol-fueled propulsion system on large bulk carrier vessels. The analysis focuses on a representative ship equipped with 6.1 MW two-stroke main engines for propulsion and three auxiliary engines rated at 615 kW each. Results show that replacing the conventional system with a 7.9 MW methanol-fueled solid oxide fuel cell power system offers both higher efficiency (54 %) and reduced CO2 emissions (458 g/kWh compared to 533 g/kWh and 635 g/kWh for the main and auxiliary engines, respectively).