Hydrogen yacht Aqua - dreams or reality?

In February of last year, a message flashed in the media that excited yachting fans: it was claimed that Bill Gates had purchased a super-modern ship powered by hydrogen. However, a little later, the Dutch company Sinot Yacht Design & Architecture, which is directly related to the development, denied this information. But at the same time, one of the representatives of the press service of the shipbuilders said that the company "invites a far-sighted client who will show interest" in the development.




As a result, the yacht Sinot Aqua received a kind of advertising and aroused curiosity not only among specialists. Why is she so interesting?

Ideas and reality

Engineers from a shipbuilding company from the Netherlands are firmly convinced that their project is not something fantastic and is based on existing technologies. Today there are smaller copies, models of the "superyacht" - it's up to the "small": to find a sponsor who is ready to invest in the implementation of the project.


If there is one, the developers say that the ship will be launched as early as 2024. But what happens as a result of the investment?

Design

The concept was first shown to the general public in Monaco at the Yacht Show, held in 2019. The role of the power unit on the ship is played by a hydrogen plant that uses the energy of liquefied gas. It is stored in a pair of tanks at -253°C, each holding 28 tons. The gas is converted into energy by means of fuel cells that include a proton exchange membrane. Simply put, there is enough energy to travel 3750 nautical miles or almost 7 km. The movers are two electric motors, developing a total power of 2 MW.

There is also a pair of auxiliary installations for steering and maneuvering, developing 300 kW each. The capacity of the battery that provides energy for the “infrastructure” of the yacht is 1,5 MWh. The cruising speed of the vessel is 31 km/h, the maximum is 22 km/h. Engineering was carried out by Lateral Naval Architects. According to calculations, the vessel is capable of delivering passengers without calling at ports for refueling from Barcelona to New York in two weeks. At the same time, the only by-product produced in the process of using the power plant is water.


A fuel cell unit has an anode chamber where gas is supplied, and a cathode chamber where oxygen enters. The electrodes are coated with platinum, which acts as a catalyst. Under its action, hydrogen loses electrons, which “go” from the anode chamber to the power supply system to which the engines are connected. Protons enter the cathode section, where water is formed under the influence of a catalyst.


The question arises: where to refuel? There is no answer to this yet: the designers believe that the owner of the yacht will be able to find a supplier of 56 tons of liquid hydrogen. Otherwise, there is no point in buying such a ship. In addition to impressive technical data, the yacht also has unique comfort, which is worth dwelling on in more detail.

Furnishings and design

The length of the five-deck yacht itself is 112 m. The vessel is designed for 14 passengers and 31 crew members. There are full-size windows everywhere, and the ceiling height is 2,8-3,8 m. One of the main features of the interior is the Aqua owner's room, where he, towering above the structure, can enjoy ocean views.


Also provided:

✅ wellness center
✅ hydromassage room
✅ gym
✅ yoga studio
✅ cascading pool
✅ spa
✅ cinema, helipad and other “services” required for yachts of this class.

But that's not all! Fans of the contemplation of technological processes have the opportunity to see how hydrogen is converted into energy. To do this, you need to go through a special ladder through five decks and go down to the room where there are six tanks with liquefied gas in vacuum isolation.


The "trick" is that they are transparent. The fantastic energy conversion process can be seen through armored glass. It took engineers almost six months to develop a power plant that operates with virtually no vibration and noise.

How much does it cost?

Today Aqua exists in the form of a concept. However, the meticulous public has already made calculations and named the amount of 644 million dollars.


However, the numbers are not very impressive. For example, the 162m long Eclipse owned (or owned) by Roman Abramovich was valued at 1,2 billion greenbacks. The yacht Baia 100 Supreme of an unknown businessman from Malaysia is worth 4,85 billion in US currency. When finishing, 100 kg of precious metals were used, including platinum and gold.


However, all these ships are on conventional, not hydrogen fuel. And it is much more pleasant to spend a lot of money, realizing that you are supporting the environmental cleanliness of the planet.

Where are hydrogen engines used today?

The most significant progress has been made in the automotive industry. Even the first prototypes of machines showed a fairly high efficiency equal to 57%. For comparison: in a conventional internal combustion engine, it does not exceed 35%. Today, on the roads you can find real cars that refuel with hydrogen: for example, BMW 750i Hydrogen, Honda FSX Hyndai (a line of Tucson cars, of which 140 units have been sold), Audi (H-tron Quattro) and many others.


There are also motorcycles, scooters, loaders, tractors running on this type of fuel. Almost all major manufacturers are developing in this direction in order to have time to “stake out” their niche in a promising market. The main obstacle is the high cost of fuel, the lack of infrastructure and qualified service personnel. However, hydrogen is not only used in road transport. In 2016 Alstom from Germany built the first non-traditional fuel-powered Coranda iLint train. Norway and Denmark showed interest in its acquisition.


In aviation, aircraft on light gas were tested back in the 80s of the last century. Today, this type of fuel is used to develop "drones", including quadrocopters.


In shipbuilding, most often this gas is supposed to be used to create submarine engines. The greatest activity in this direction is shown by Spain, Germany, among customers - Israel, Italy and other countries. As for surface vessels, one of the first is the Energy Observer catamaran. In 2019 he visited St. Petersburg. But this is not exactly a "pure hydrogen" ship. Gas is needed here "in case of emergency" when there is not enough solar and wind energy. Hydrogen is "made" directly from ocean water and stored in pressurized tanks.


This is a fuel cell that generates electricity from gas (see above), which drives a pair of motors. They help the catamaran move in the absence of sun and wind at an average speed of 5 knots. Approximately the same scheme works on the Aqua prototype, only in the future it is supposed to scale it all up. As you can see, the project has nothing fantastic: all this is already being used, although not to its fullest. However, this is a mixed-energy catamaran, and so far nothing has been heard about hydrogen-powered yachts. And it is possible that Aqua will be the first in the world.