CEU UCH and INTA design an unmanned hydrogen vessel to monitor natural aquatic spaces

VALENCIA, July 10 (EUROPA PRESS) -

Researchers from the CEU Cardenal Herrera University (CEU UCH) in Valencia, in collaboration with the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA), have designed an unmanned vessel powered by hydrogen, "as a clean fuel", to monitor natural aquatic spaces without emissions contaminants, as reported by the academic institution in a statement.

It is an unmanned superficial electric aquatic platform, manufactured by 3D printing, intended for environmental monitoring of calm waters. USV-DOVELAR has just been successfully tested in Huelva by the TecEner research team of the CEU Cardenal Herrera University in collaboration with INTA.

After their drone and car designs with clean fuel, the CEU UCH researchers have adapted their flexible hybrid power system with fuel cells for hydrogen-powered electric vehicles to a boat, with a range of twelve hours and no polluting emissions. . The boat only requires 120W of power for navigation.

CEU UCH professor Jordi Renau, one of the project's main researchers, explained that "this type of USV vehicle, from English Unmanned Surface Vehicle, has various applications" and highlighted that "environmental monitoring of calm waters and little deep is one of the most useful.

Thus, he stressed that the boat can carry out "mapping functions, fauna control or sampling in natural aquatic spaces, such as the Albufera, with minimal environmental, visual and acoustic impact." "We decided to apply the hydrogen-powered fuel cell technology that we have developed in drone and automobile prototypes, with minimal electrical consumption and zero polluting emissions, to this type of vessel with environmental uses, due to its ability to extend the life of autonomy", insisted the expert.

Thanks to the collaboration of the TecEner group with the National Institute of Aerospace Technology, it was possible to verify the hydrodynamic resistance of the design of the vessel in the calm water channel for ship tests of this Institute in Madrid (INTA-CEHIPAR), the university added. .

This test made it possible to verify that the USV-DOVELAR requires less than 8W to maintain a constant speed: this power is the friction that the neutral hull presents against the water.

In the test carried out in Huelva it has been possible to verify that with a power of about 120W the ship can be given maneuvering capacity, that is, incorporate the rudder and the propeller, as well as take into account all the energy losses of the mechanical chain , has pointed out the CEU UCH.

With the tests carried out, it can be extrapolated that, with the energy deposits on board, both in batteries and in hydrogen, the USV-DOVELAR would have a navigation autonomy of more than twelve hours.

Researchers Jordi Renau and Víctor García Peñas, from the TecEner group, have carried out these new physical tests on the ship in Huelva, which have made it possible to "obtain sufficient data to create a digital model of the USV-DOVELAR that will help to further optimize the consumption of vehicle power.

These tests have been carried out with researchers Diego Tejada, Eduardo López, Fernando Isorna, Laura Vargas and Rosa Rengel, from the El Arenosillo Energy Laboratory, from INTA's energy and environment area.

The boat, which has been manufactured using 3D printing at the CEU UCH Higher School of Technical Education (ESET), has been tested in water at the facilities of the José Manuel Sierra Sports Center, in Moguer (Huelva), thanks to the support that the project has received from the City Council of this municipality and its mayor, Gustavo Cuéllar.

The USV-DOVELAR unmanned vessel is the result of the research project 'Flexible Hybrid Fuel Cell Power System for Electric Vehicles and Advanced Manufacturing of Unmanned Shallow Electric Water Platform'.

This is a project that CEU UCH is developing in a consortium with INTA and for which it again has the collaboration and coordination of the CSIC Institute of Carbochemistry (former LIFTEC), with the Industrial Robotics and Informatics Institute (IRII) of CSIC and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), in Barcelona.

CEU UCH professors Fernando Sánchez and Jordi Renau participate as main researchers in the DOVELAR project, leading the TecEner research group, made up of professors Víctor García Peñas, Alberto Giménez, Luis Doménech, Manuel Ibáñez, Manuel Martínez and Antonio Real. This team is joined for this project by INTA researchers Eduardo López, Fernando Isorna, Diego Tejada and Laura Vargas.

Together with INTA and the University of Seville (US), Víctor García and Jordi Renau are developing two competitive research projects, one with national funding from the Ministry of Science and Innovation and another granted by the Ministry of Knowledge, Research and Universities of the Junta from Andalusia.

Both projects are related to the development of electrolyzers and their control systems for hydrogen production and their coupling with renewable energy production systems, from two different and complementary points of view.