My name is Vincent Lawlor, and I work at AVL in Graz, Austria, where my work is focused on research and technology programmes in sustainable mobility and energy systems.
In IsoPROPEL, AVL’s main role is to look at how the direct isopropanol fuel cell, or DIFC, could move beyond the cell itself and become part of a practical propulsion system. We are working on the simulation and optimisation of DIFC integration into inland-waterway powertrains, including energy and thermal management, dynamic operation, and the onboard management of the two liquid energy carriers, isopropanol and acetone. We also contribute to the project’s exploitation activities and the pathway towards higher technology-readiness levels.
What was your original motivation to become a researcher?
What attracted me to research was the opportunity to work on problems where the solution is not already known. I have always enjoyed understanding how technologies work, but even more importantly, how different technologies can be brought together into a system that solves a real-world problem.
For me, mobility and energy are particularly motivating areas because the technical decisions we make today can have a very tangible impact on sustainability in the future. I also like the combination of fundamental technical questions with the practical challenge of turning an idea into something that could eventually be deployed.
What is your main research area today?
My main area today is sustainable propulsion and energy systems, particularly the integration and assessment of new energy carriers and fuel-cell technologies for mobility.
A key part of that is looking beyond an individual component. We need to understand how the fuel cell, energy storage, thermal management, powertrain and operating conditions interact at system level. In IsoPROPEL, that translates into investigating how a direct isopropanol fuel cell could operate as part of a realistic inland vessel propulsion system. AVL will use its CRUISE simulation environment to analyse DIFC integration with representative heavy-duty powertrains and different vessel operating conditions.
What is the main objective of your team in IsoPROPEL?
Our main objective at AVL is to understand what it takes to integrate this novel fuel-cell technology into a realistic vessel.
We will develop simulation models of the DIFC and its integration into an inland-waterway powertrain, and examine its behaviour during operations such as cruising, docking and manoeuvring. We will also investigate thermal management and the onboard storage and handling of isopropanol and acetone. Ultimately, we want to identify an efficient system architecture and understand how it compares with more conventional fuel-cell propulsion solutions.
What expertise and facilities does your team have to meet these objectives?
AVL brings extensive expertise in fuel-cell propulsion, powertrain engineering and system simulation. A particularly important capability for IsoPROPEL is AVL CRUISE™, our simulation environment for modelling fuel cells and their integration with heavy-duty powertrains.
The project proposal specifically highlights AVL’s experience in fuel-cell propulsion systems and integration, as well as its broader capabilities in PEM and solid-oxide fuel-cell technologies. This gives us the system-level expertise needed to take the outputs of the fundamental fuel-cell research in the project and investigate how they translate into a practical propulsion architecture.
Which aspects of your research at IsoPROPEL do you believe are the most innovative, and what unique opportunities does IsoPROPEL offer you and/or your organisation?
For me, one of the most innovative aspects is that IsoPROPEL is not simply proposing another fuel. It is investigating a fundamentally different energy-carrier concept.
Isopropanol is used directly in the fuel cell and converted to acetone without producing CO₂ onboard. The acetone can then be re-hydrogenated back to isopropanol, creating a rechargeable liquid energy-carrier cycle. Both liquids can be handled at ambient conditions, avoiding some of the storage challenges associated with compressed or liquefied hydrogen.
For AVL, the particularly interesting opportunity is to investigate this technology at the complete-system level. IsoPROPEL connects fundamental materials and fuel-cell research with fuel production, logistics, powertrain integration, techno-economics and life-cycle assessment. It therefore gives us an opportunity to understand not only whether a DIFC works, but what would actually be required to turn it into a viable propulsion solution.
How do you see the future use of the IsoPROPEL results and the impact of the project in our daily lives?
The immediate application we are studying is inland waterway transport, but I think the broader significance is demonstrating another possible route towards zero-carbon mobility in sectors where batteries alone may not provide the required range or energy density.
IsoPROPEL aims to combine renewable production of the isopropanol/acetone energy carrier with a fuel cell that releases no CO₂ onboard. Because the energy carrier is liquid at ambient conditions, the concept could potentially offer practical advantages in storage and handling compared with compressed or liquefied hydrogen.
The project is still targeting TRL 4, so this is research rather than a market-ready solution. But the longer-term ambition is important: AVL’s fuel-cell capabilities could provide a pathway from the project’s single-cell DIFC demonstrator towards multi-cell stacks and, eventually, propulsion-scale systems.
For everyday life, the impact would probably not be something people see directly. It would be things such as cleaner transport corridors, reduced emissions from shipping, and more options for using renewable energy in difficult-to-electrify applications. That is ultimately what makes this research exciting to me.
