Characterization and experimental comparison of commercial PEMFC stacks for marine applications

PEM Fuel Cells are considered among the most promising technologies for hydrogen utilization in both stationary and automotive applications. The number of FC installations on board ships – alone or in hybrid configuration with batteries – is increasing significantly, although international regulations that drive their installation are still missing. In this scenario, the project TecBia aims to identify a dedicated test protocol and the best commercial PEMFC technology for marine applications, assessing the integration of a 140 kW PEMFC system on the Zero Emission Ultimate Ship (ZEUS) vessel. The system design and technology provider has been chosen after a technical comparison based on a dedicated experimental campaign. The experimental campaign had two goals: (i) analyse the performance of the different PEMFC systems to define the best characteristics for maritime applications; (ii) verify the compliance with naval requirements with reference to current and future standards. The present study shows the resulting test protocol for FC Systems (FCS) for maritime applications, defined starting from the existing international regulations on FCS installations and on naval environment requirements; the results of its application on the commercial system chosen for the installation on ZEUS are reported.

Power-efficient low-stray field hybrid magnets for MAGLEV technology

A hybrid suspension system is proposed for maglev transport that utilizes electromagnets (EM) in combination with permanent magnets (PM). Several design schemes are compared searching for optimum performance. Sufficient reduction of power consumption and stray field is achieved on the hybrid configuration as compared to conventional EM suspension systems.

Quasi-static perforation response of inter-ply hybrid polypropylene composites at various temperatures

This study is motivated by the lack of knowledge in the research of mechanical characterization of thermoplastic composites (TPCs) with additional fiber hybridization. To enhance the mechanical properties of long glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene (PP) composite, hybridization via alkaline-treated aramid and carbon fabrics is performed. High performance fabrics modified with 10 wt.% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) aqueous solution are incorporated into the PP composite as reinforcements. Herewith, four arrangements (hybrid composites) for two different reinforcements and two different stacking configurations and the monolithic composite are separately investigated in terms of quasi-static perforation behavior. Failure mechanisms are also evaluated at macro level by visual observations and micro scales through a scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experimental results provide a basis for selecting fiber-enabled hybridization and lay-up configuration with improved perforation resistance. Moreover, the influence of test temperature is reported for three different values as 20°C, 60°C, and 100°C. Based upon the results, the maximum penetration force of hybrid configuration with single-layered aramid fabric reinforcements is approximately 15.5% higher than that of single-layered carbon fabric reinforcements at 60°C test temperature. It is further observed that the absorbed energy improves as the number of fabrics is increased in both aramid and carbon reinforcements. The test temperatures significantly affect the failure mechanisms of TPCs. A smaller damaged area at the penetrated faces of the hybrid structures is obtained by comparison with the monolithic TPCs.

Zinc Sulfide, Silicon Dioxide, and Black Phosphorus Based Ultra-Sensitive Surface Plasmon Biosensor

The optical biosensor is the emerging research area in the field of bio-photonics. The black phosphorus zinc sulfide-based hybrid configuration is suitable for implementing and analyzing ultrasensitive biosensors. Ag/Zinc sulfide/silicon dioxide/black phosphorus-based biosensor has been implemented in the proposed work using the modified Kretschmann configuration. The sensitivity improvement of the designed SPR sensor is analyzed in the different arrangements of the layers. The thickness of the layers of all the materials has been optimized. The thickness of the Ag metal layer is optimized and taken as 45 nm. The sensitivity and quality factor measured here is as high as \(664.6^\circ /\text{R}\text{I}\text{U}\) and 200 at 1.37 refractive index—the P-polarized light source of \(633\text{n}\text{m}\) wavelength. The proposed biosensor confirms tremendous growth in terms of sensitivity, detection accuracy, and quality factor compared with the traditional SPR sensors. Zinc sulfide has multiple applications in the sensing fields, like sensors based on UV rays, lasers, and gas.

Hybrid Permanent Magnet Motor Application to Electric Submersible Pumps in SAGD wells

A Permanent Magnet Motor (PMM) designed to break the 300°C barrier was previously presented that included many advancements to greatly improve the operating temperature and reliability beyond the ability of current equipment [1]. A key design element is the inclusion of a squirrel cage in the PMM rotor that results in a hybrid construction. This paper will delve into the rationale for the hybrid configuration and will assess motor performance using electromagnetic simulations and validation testing. PMMs are used in many industrial applications and have recently started to gain traction in oil and gas upstream production applications. A significant issue is the PMM compatibility with existing motor drive equipment and their need for special provisions to operate at the end of long cables without position sensors. A hybrid configuration help overcome these limitations and allows operation with conventional variable speed drives using a standard scalar controller as used with induction motors. The design, development, and qualification of the hybrid PM rotor construction were undertaken using a rigorous analytical approach combined with extensive validation testing. The motor is designed to maintain stability under the severe transient conditions in the SAGD environment, where the produced emulsion rich in gas and solids creates highly variable conditions for the motor and controller. A detailed electromagnetic model of the motor for configurations with or without the squirrel cage was undertaken to demonstrate the effectiveness of the hybrid configuration to maintain speed control stability. A time stepped method was used to simulate the motor start with simulated loading conditions, reflecting the starting and operating conditions with breakaway torques up to full load torque condition and 50% transient loads. The squirrel cage was successfully integrated within the rotor structure of a 150hp PM motor. Extensive design and thermal-structural analysis ensured the construction was acceptable for operation in the ranges −40°C to 350°C. Validation testing was then performed to demonstrate the hybrid PM motor construction functioned for use with conventional and legacy variable frequency drives.

Design, Analysis, and Testing of a Hybrid VTOL Tilt-Rotor UAV for Increased Endurance

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have slowly but steadily emerged as a research and commercial hotspot because of their widespread applications. Due to their agility, compact size, and ability to integrate multiple sensors, they are mostly sought for applications that require supplementing human effort in risky and monotonous missions. Despite all of these advantages, rotorcrafts, in general, are limited by their endurance and power-intensive flight requirements, which consequently affect the time of flight and operational range. On the other hand, fixed-wing aircrafts have an extended range, as the entire thrust force is along the direction of motion and are inherently more stable but are limited by their takeoff and landing strip requirements. One of the potential solutions to increase the endurance of VTOL rotorcrafts (Vertical Take-Off and Landing Vehicles) was to exploit the thrust vectoring ability of the individual actuators in multi-rotors, which would enable take-off and hovering as a VTOL vehicle and flight as a fixed-wing aircraft. The primary aim of this paper is to lay out the overall design process of a Hybrid VTOL tilt-rotor UAV from the initial conceptual sketch to the final fabricated prototype. The novelty of the design lies in achieving thrust vectoring capabilities in a fixed-wing platform with minimum actuation and no additional control complexity. This paper presents novel bi-copter that has been designed to perform as a hybrid configuration in both VTOL and fixed wing conditions with minimum actuators in comparison to existing designs. The unified dynamic modelling along with the approximation of multiple aerodynamic coefficients by numerical simulations is also presented. The overall conceptual design, dynamic modeling, computational simulation, and experimental analysis of the novel hybrid fixed-wing bi-copter with thrust vectoring capabilities aiming to substantially increase the flight range and endurance compared to the conventional aircraft rotorcraft configurations are presented.

Effect of nonlinear edge loads and hybridization of FMLs on buckling performance of interlaminar composites with/without cutouts

The solution for the buckling problems of fibre metal laminates is usually based on the assumptions that the plates are subjected to uniform edges loads without any discontinuity or damages. Nevertheless, in practice the plates are subjected to various kinds of nonlinear/nonuniform edge loads along with various sized and positioned openings. The present work mainly focused on the vibration and buckling performance of inter laminar hybrid fiber metal laminates (HFMLs) with and without cutouts subjected to different kinds of nonlinear loading conditions by utilizing finite element approach. Towards this a 9-noded heterosis plate element has been used to discretize the plate by taking into account the effect of shear deformation and rotary inertia. Since the stress distribution within the plate is highly non-uniform in nature, the dynamic approach has been used to solve the buckling problems. The present study consists of aluminum metal face sheets bonded with four layered symmetric hybrid cross-ply laminates, in which six different hybrid configurations have been considered. The performance of each hybrid configuration along with different sized and positioned cutouts is well investigated under various nonlinear loading conditions.