e1 Marine Technology
Solving the ‘Hydrogen Challenge’
Through e1 Marine’s patented hydrogen generation technology, fuel cell-grade hydrogen is safely and cost-effectively generated from methanol and water. It can be delivered on-site, onboard, and on-demand, and it provides an immediately viable pathway to green energy.
Hydrogen Fuel Challenges
As a liquid or compressed gas, hydrogen fuel has always been challenging and expensive to transport and bunker. The bulky hydrogen tanks required in order to provide adequate safety measures and range would compromise that vessel's cargo volume. Moreover, high-pressure tanks built from exotic materials are expensive to manufacture and maintain, and they have a short lifespan.
Methanol and e1 Marine technology
Methanol is a game-changer for Hydrogen generation – due to its ready availability, low cost, Hydrogen density, environmental friendliness, and ease of transport and storage.
e1 Marine’s hydrogen generation technology uses methanol as the primary input fuel. It is simple to access, store, and transport. As a highly efficient fuel, it provides a clear pathway to a future of carbon-neutral transport via bio-methanol and e-methanol.
When we combine Methanol with water, which can be sourced from the water a vessel sails in, we significantly increase the available hydrogen content. We process this combined feedstock through our reformation process and patented purification technology to produce fuel cell grade Hydrogen with >99.97 purity.
There is no need for specialized high-pressure storage tanks – we produce just the right amount of Hydrogen at the time of need and feed it via our buffer thanks directly into a Fuel Cell.
This can be done when and where it’s needed: on land or onboard. Once running, the hydrogen generator creates its own heat energy, and when paired with a PEM fuel cell, can produce clean, efficient, and reliable electrical power scaling to multi-megawatts creating a far more efficient operating range for the vessel.
Enriched Methanol - Hydrogen (blue), Oxygen (yellow), Carbon (red)
Meeting the carbon reduction objectives
By using a combination of renewable, regenerative methanol and water to both store and generate hydrogen fuel on demand, the maritime sector can now achieve the mandated carbon reduction objectives.
e1 Marine’s groundbreaking technology offers hydrogen as a low cost, immediate, and scalable alternative fuel solution to help the maritime industry achieve its carbon reduction targets and support the overall global effort towards international climate change objectives.
No NOx, SOx or PM Emissions
e1 Marine’s proprietary technology produces hydrogen on-demand at the point of consumption, eliminating the logistical challenges and costs involved in distributing compressed hydrogen – with no NOx, SOx, or PM emissions.
Environmentally friendly vessels and operations
Carbon emission reduction is a global priority. By utilizing methanol to hydrogen to drive fuel cells for marine propulsion and electricity production we can help move the world away from carbon-based fuels.
Our technology provides an alternative pathway for green energy, independent of electrical input. Methanol is already distributed globally and is a clean, efficient, and safe marine fuel offering immediate carbon reduction benefits. Renewable methanol is already available in modest quantities with much larger scale on the planning table.
Our mandated carbon reduction goals are now within reach. The ultimate goal is to utilize green bio-methanol as the feedstock for green hydrogen production to achieve zero-carbon shipping, with full IMO 2020 compliance.
The output hydrogen from e1 Marine generators has been processed through our proprietary purification technology to produce fuel cell grade hydrogen at greater than 99.97% purity.
This makes our hydrogen compatible with all marine PEM fuel cells. We work with a range of the world’s top fuel cell producers – and our output hydrogen is of such high purity that we can work with virtually any partner you select.
Low cost, high flexibility.
Fuel Cell Compatibility
Easily stored
Easy and safe to store and transport as a liquid. So there’s zero high-pressure hydrogen transport, or storage is required.
Hydrogen-rich
Highly efficient with the highest hydrogen to carbon ratio of liquid fuels.
Eco-friendly
Providing a pathway to carbon-neutral compliance with bio-methanol.
Accessible
Immediately and readily available worldwide in more than 85% of the world’s biggest ports and it’s an approved fuel type.
Why use methanol to produce hydrogen?
As an extremely effective hydrogen carrier, methanol is:
High performing
Methanol’s high hydrogen fuel density solves the challenges of limited range.
Increasing in Supply
Increasing global capacity is forecast to increase from ~153 mtpa in 2020 to 311 mtpa in 2030.
Easily Integrated
No specialist tanks are required (can use existing fuel tanks) so low-cost of conversion and liquid fuel storage onboard.
Economical
Offers a low-cost source of hydrogen with e1 Marine technology.
How e1 Marine produces hydrogen on-demand & on the go
The process begins by mixing water with methanol to create the feedstock. The feedstock is pumped into a heat exchanger to cool the product hydrogen, preheat the feedstock, and obtain optimal thermal efficiency for the generator. The pre-heated feedstock then flows into the reactor ‘hot box’, where it is converted into a vapor. It is then directed into a catalytic reactor to convert the feedstock into a syngas, a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide.
The final step is hydrogen purification using e1 Marine’s proprietary membrane purifier, the heart of the system, and a process that separates the hydrogen from the syngas. The membrane-based purification module is at the core of e1 Marine’s protected intellectual property and represents a significant advancement in scalable, reliable, and affordable hydrogen purification.
The fuel-grade hydrogen output meets all relevant ISO standards, and it’s ideal for use with fuel cells to generate electricity or to supplement the standard fuel of a conventional engine.
The small amount of remaining hydrogen-depleted gas from the purifier is directed back to the reactor and combusted to generate the heat for the steam reforming reaction. No additional or supplementary fuel is required to generate heat for the reaction. Exhaust from the raffinate combustion is sent to the atmosphere, and the only new emissions produced by the hydrogen generator are carbon dioxide and water vapor.
System efficiency of up to 84% can be achieved by the e1 Marine Hydrogen Generator. The process is robust in design with very few moving parts, requires minimal maintenance, and offers outstanding longevity.