Recently, the Dalian Key Laboratory of Green Ship Power and Efficient Thermal Management, affiliated with the Marine Engineering College of DMU has made progress in multi-energy flow regulation of hybrid propulsion systems of hydrogen-powered ships. The relevant research findings have been published in eTransportation (Impact Factor: 15.1) under the title "Electric-Thermal-Gas Synergistic Dynamics in PEMFC-LIB Hybrid Systems for Hydrogen Ships: A Multi-Scale Evaluation Framework". This research paper marks the first publication by our university as the sole corresponding affiliation in eTransportation, a leading SCI-indexed academic journal in global transportation science and technology. Founded by Academician Minggao Ouyang, a renowned international expert in transportation electrification, the journal covers cutting-edge advancements in electrified transportation carriers such as electric vehicles, electric trains, electric ships, and electric aircrafts. It focuses on core technologies including power batteries, fuel cells, electric drive systems, hybrid powertrains, charging infrastructure, intelligent control, new energy infrastructure, and smart energy systems. eTransportation has consistently ranked first among SCI journals in the transportation technology field.

With the gradual increase in the requirements for energy efficiency, sustainability, and emission reduction in the shipping industry, low-carbon and zero-carbon powered ships have become the main research direction at present. In recent years, hydrogen-powered ships have been developed in multiple countries and have become a research hotspot. The power systems of such ships typically involve various forms of energy such as fuel cells and lithium batteries. During their operation, multiple physical fields such as electricity, heat, and gas interact and couple with each other, exerting a complex impact on the performance and reliability of the systems. Therefore, establishing a model that can accurately capture the dynamic characteristics of the systems is crucial for optimizing system design, ensuring safe operation, and achieving efficient energy management.

To enhance the high-efficiency collaborative potential of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) and lithium battery (LIB) hybrid power systems, the research team developed a one-dimensional enhanced (1D+) multi-physics model that couples electrical, thermal, and gas flow responses. A response evaluation method based on the Relative Variation Index (RVI) was proposed to systematically reveal the dynamic characteristics and coupling relationships of various physical domains under three typical marine power system operating conditions. The study found significant differences in the response characteristics of different physical domains: thermal response dominates system fluctuations, electrical response exhibits high sensitivity, and gas flow behavior is tightly coupled with load. Each operation mode shows distinct characteristics in energy collaboration, thermal management, and stability.

Through an integrated modeling, analysis, and evaluation framework, the study outlines future application prospects, emphasizing the dimension scalability of cross-system multi-physics interactions, heterogeneous energy coupling for enhancing system synergy, and a unified multi-physics evaluation metric system based on RVI. These efforts lay the foundation for optimizing the performance of hydrogen-powered ship propulsion systems, advancing joint electrical-thermal-gas fault diagnosis, and promoting intelligent energy management strategies, thereby driving the green upgrade of marine energy systems.

The corresponding author of the paper is Associate Professor Wang Zhe from the Marine Engineering College. This work is one of the research outcomes of the project “Key Technologies for Hydrogen-Powered Typical Ships”, supported by the “14th Five-Year Plan” National Key Research and Development Program.