Hydrogen combustion for gas turbine applications
In the zero carbon electricity system, driven by renewables, gas turbines play a pivotal role for balancing the grid during periods of shortage of renewable generation and to provide long duration energy storage in combination with green hydrogen. The fuel for gas turbines will shift from natural gas to zero carbon fuels like hydrogen.
Pertaining to gas turbine combustion, hydrogen is a highly reactive fuel and presents challenges for existing combustors to switch between natural gas and hydrogen while remaining stable and with NOx emissions always below stringent limits.
TU Delft performs world class research on hydrogen combustion for gas turbines with the main focus on the prevention of flashback:
• Laser diagnostics of premixed hydrogen flames in academic burners and laboratory scaled gas turbine burners and combustors
• Flashback modeling using CFD simulations
More information can be found at: Hydrogen combustion in gas turbines 2021, Webinar Dutch Section of the Combustion Institute
Publications on research of hydrogen combustion
Bjornson, O.H., Klein, S.A. and Tober, J., Boundary layer flashback model for confined hydrogen flames including the effect of adverse pressure gradient flow, Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power 2020, GTP 20-415, https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4048566
Klein, S, & Sarakatsanis, C. "Validation of Hydrogen Boundary Layer Flashback Model on Gas Turbine Geometries and Conditions." Proceedings of the ASME Turbo Expo 2022: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition. Volume 3A: Combustion, Fuels, and Emissions. Rotterdam, Netherlands. June 13–17, 2022. V03AT04A013. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/GT2022-79816
Gruber, A., Heggset, T., Meyer, O., Altenburg, L., Tummers, M., Klein, S., ... & Stuttaford, P. (2023, June). Numerical and Experimental Investigation of a Geometrically Simplified, Two-Dimensional FlameSheet™ Hydrogen Burner. In Turbo Expo: Power for Land, Sea, and Air (Vol. 86960, p. V03BT04A054). American Society of Mechanical Engineers., https://doi.org/10.1115/GT2023-103779
Cooperation on hydrogen combustion
EU project Helios Clean Hydrogen Partnership (GA No. 101101462) : https://www.tue.nl/nieuws-en-evenementen/nieuwsoverzicht/06-04-2023-eu-funded-project-helios-launched
HighHydrogen: https://projecten.topsectorenergie.nl/projecten/high-hydrogen-gas-turbine-retrofit-to-eliminate-carbon-emissions-31823
H2Flex: https://projecten.topsectorenergie.nl/projecten/the-development-of-a-hydrogen-turbine-burner-prototype-36891