MARPOWER Advances Key Technologies For Maritime Decarbonization

The EU-funded MARPOWER project is developing an advanced gas turbine-based energy conversion system for maritime transport, aiming to operate with various sustainable fuels and enhance overall efficiency. Two years into the project, the overall cycle and system design have been finalized, as well as detailed designs for the main components.

Several key technologies, such as optimised compressors and turbines, combustion chamber prototypes with 100% hydrogen, heat recovery systems, active magnetic bearing systems, and digital models, have progressed into manufacturing and experimental testing.

Efficient MARPOWER operation relies on the performance of its compressors and turbines. Designs for both low- and high-pressure compressors have been completed, along with the high-pressure turbine's aerodynamic and cooling design, and the low-pressure turbine's design and optimization, considering the two-shaft configuration, active magnetic bearings, and fuel flexibility.

Dedicated optimisation tools have been developed, resulting in improved internal cooling channels for the high-pressure turbine and fully three-dimensional blade shapes for the low-pressure turbine.

Fuel flexibility is a central aspect of the MARPOWER concept, accommodating sustainable and net-zero fuel options like hydrogen, ammonia, renewable methanol, and renewable methane with minimal modifications. The first combustion chamber prototype with 100% hydrogen has been successfully tested in an atmospheric test rig. The second prototype is being designed with a flexible air distribution system and additional geometry optimisations to enhance fuel flexibility.

Improving overall efficiency also involves harnessing more available heat. A scaled recuperator prototype has been manufactured and tested, featuring a new heat-transfer surface geometry and automated robotic laser welding. Preparations for further experimental validation are underway. MARPOWER combines recuperation with a complementary Waste Heat Recovery System to further optimize efficiency and reduce fuel consumption.

The system's high-speed rotating machinery requires active magnetic bearings to support the rotor and limit wear, which have been designed, manufactured, and integrated into a flywheel test rig. A multiphysics mathematical model has been developed to support future control strategies that account for temperature-dependent effects.