It is often stated that fuel flexibility is a big advantage for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) in marine applications since the marine industry is not sure which fuel will be widely available in the future. Several fuels can be used in SOFCs due to the high operating temperature. However, it is still unknown which fuel performs best for a marine SOFC power plant, and it might even depend on the application.

The performance of a marine SOFC power plant for several fuels (methane, methanol, diesel, ammonia, and hydrogen) is compared in terms of electrical and thermal efficiency. It is investigated what influence the operational voltage and fuel utilisation of the SOFC have on the efficiencies of the different systems.

The propulsion system of a large passenger ship is a complex system that is responsible to cater all heat and power needs of a vessel itself, including the hotel complex.

Stricter emissions targets, especially on CO₂ posed by international organisations are encouraging ship owners and ship constructors to innovate. Indeed, such innovation can be done by utilizing other fuels than heavy fuel oil (HFO).

The NAUTILUS project will be represented at the AABC conference in San Diego, USA by colleague Nico Manteuffel from RWTH. At his poster he will present a "Toolchain for efficient implementation and evaluation of BMS algorithms from Matlab-Simulink on an embedded system."