Auxiliary Power Units for pleasure boats

Due to the growing interest shown worldwide in reducing pollution in all transportation fields, and also in order to improve comfort by avoiding acoustic emissions inside sea ports or protected areas, shipyards have recently started to develop auxiliary power units fed by hydrogen, for feeding electrical loads on pleasure boats. Different solutions can be considered, with hydrogen stored on-board or, much more interesting, produced on request. This paper analyzes some of these options, by presenting a reforming process starting from liquefied natural gas (LNG) which is more and more considered also as fuel for the main propulsion power unit ones. An experimental laboratory activity was also performed, aimed to test some of the components of the auxiliary power unit, i.e. the fuel-cell system, and their interface with the electrical system on-board.