A Humble Attempt to Save the Planet

Text: Nishan Withana

Doctoral Researcher, DSII

Have you ever dreamt of saving the world? I have.

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At first, I wanted to save it from aliens; like Dutch taking

on an extraterrestrial predator or Mulder chasing the truth that’s out there.

But over time, I realized those dreams were a bit… out of my league. So, I chose a more realistic and urgent threat – the climate change.

How do I plan to fight it? Through “electrification”.

Thanks to the Doctoral School of Industry Innovations at Tampere University, I’ve been given the chance to be part of a project focused on electrifying marine transport. The concept is to use

hydrogen to power the marine vehicle using fuel-cell-generated energy, reducing the fossil fuel dependency.

By virtue of technological breakthroughs during the recent past, the production of hydrogen through cleaner means, such as wind or solar, has become possible. Consequently, the produced hydrogen can be utilized in fuel cells to reduce carbon emissions in marine transportation.

But here’s the catch. Integrating a hydrogen fuel cell into a ship’s power system isn’t as simple as it sounds. Why not?

Source: Pixabay

Let me explain with a home analogy. Assume you want to charge your mobile phone or your laptop. The voltage and current requirement of your device is not the same as the voltage and current level of the electricity supply given to your home by the utility provider. Thus, your charger will accompany a power electronic converter which converts the utility supply voltage and current levels into what your device needs.

It’s the same with ships. The fuel cell produces electricity at a voltage that doesn’t match the ship’s DC network. So, a power electronic converter is needed in between. The scope of my research is to explore methods to control this converter while ensuring reliability,

efficiency and safety.

Know another perk? The project is a collaboration between the university and an industry partner. That means I’m not only gaining academic knowledge but also learning to measure the business value of research. I hope this experience will shape me into a more practical researcher, who thinks about both innovation and return on investment.

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The journey so far? A rollercoaster. However, looking back to where I started, a substantial progress can be realized with my exposure to the research environment. I am positively surprised by the support provided by the peers, supervisors and the admin staff in both university and the company which has graced my doctoral journey.

The road ahead will have its twists and turns, but it feels promising. I feel like I’m keeping up with making my childhood dream of saving the world, a reality. I’ll end with a quote that keeps me going, which is popular, yet powerful.

“Succes is not final; failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts”