engineers from Sophia Antipolis test their boat with hydrogen – Pages Monaco
From July 4 to 9, the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge will pit engineers from different backgrounds against each other, who must design a boat that runs on clean energy. This Thursday, June 30, researchers from the Sophia Antipolis campus tested their invention one last time before the big day.
It is almost noon and the sun is beating down on the sailing school in Antibes, where the engineers are busy assembling the boat before it is launched.
It’s time for the last test for these students from the Sophia Antipolis campus of the Ecole des Mines. They are going to launch the vessel they designed for the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge, which begins on Monday 4 July.
“We’ve been working on it for three years, it’s a project that allows us to put into practice theoretical things that we study in thesis so it’s motivating” explains Anaëlle Jodry, doctoral student and pilot of the boat.
Last year, the team came fourth. For this edition, they have taken the same boat, adding improvements.
A fan noise
The researchers bet on a hydrogen-powered engine. Result: the boat is virtually silent.
“We only hear the noise of a fan”, specifies Antoine Pichou, one of the two engineers of the company Symbio, sponsor of the team, who worked on the design of the battery which allows the transformation of the hydrogen into electricity.
While some worry about the assembly of all the parts, others worry about the sealing of the motor: “there must not be too high a wave, otherwise the water risks go into the pile”, warns a computer scientist from the School of Mines, who has come to lend a hand to the team.
They finally decide to add scotch tape at the end of the parishes. “It’s not quite finished,” admits Anaëlle Jodry.
Putting on her outfit – pants and waterproof shoes – the pilot confides that she is a little worried: “There are always risks with hydrogen – it can catch fire – but the organization asked us to integrate a lot of safety devices. , which should activate and block the process if there is the slightest leak, she explains. There’s a bit of stress, but I don’t go up shaking either.”
The competition consists of three rounds. To test the endurance of the engine, the boats must last three hours with 10 kWH of energy. Anaëlle will be supported by the technical team, which remains at the dock and will analyze the data sent by the device on a computer.
Everything is scrutinized by these specialists, who remain in constant contact with her by walkie-talkie.
It’s a whole balance to find between going slowly but still fast enough so that at the end of the three hours, we have no more hydrogen left, explains the pilot of the boat. On land, they will tell me if I can go faster or slower.
Anaëlle Jodry, pilot of the ship
Engineers from the Ecole des Mines are testing their prototype hydrogen-powered boat off the coast of Antibes on Thursday June 30, a few days before the Monaco Boat Energy Challenge. • © Coralie Becq / FTV
12km per hour
Then, to test the speed, the teams will perform a slalom and finally, a race against a competitor. Even if the bends in the course are quite tight, the exercise shouldn’t be too difficult: at its maximum, the boat reached a speed of… 12 km/h during the last test, carried out two weeks ago.
“But since then, we have made improvements and there, we should go faster,” assures Antoine Pichou. “And then it’s sobriety [énergétique] who counts, the rest doesn’t care! says another engineer.
Indeed, for these young doctoral students, the idea is also to carry out a project that makes sense by promoting the use of hydrogen instead of other, more polluting energies.
“We are all already in a lab that works on these clean energies, so yes, it is part of the continuation of this approach”, explains Julia Wagner, doctoral student specializing in batteries. After the launch, the team is rather confident: “He will pull up the engine a bit, which is dragging in the water, but otherwise I think we’re spot on,” enthused Anaëlle.
Results from July 4 to 9.
