Preliminary Design of a Wind Driven Vessel Dedicated to Hydrogen Production

An innovative concept of harnessing wind energy is presented. The concept consists of a wind driven ship equipped with a hydro-generator that converts the kinetic energy of the water flow into electricity. The electricity is then converted into hydrogen by electrolysis. In the present study the use of a Flettner rotor is considered to propel the ship. A mathematical model of the hydrogen producing ship is developed based on existing data for high performance ship hulls and aerodynamic coefficients of existing Flettner rotors. The design is optimized with respect to the axial induction velocity through the water turbine disk. Results indicate that a 22m long vessel could produce 200 kW while a 80 m long vessel is able to generate 1 MW of mechanical power both for a true wind speed of 8 m/s.