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This blog continues from last week’s series. Hydrogen Working Group of European Turbine Network (ETN Global) recently published a new report entitled “ETN Hydrogen Gas Turbines – The Path Towards a Zero-Carbon Gas Turbine.”  The main objectives of this report is to highlight potential benefits and challenges on the hydrogen uses in gas turbines. The report also assesses pre-conditions to the implementation of a hydrogen power plant, requirements for retrofit of existing gas turbines, and current capabilities of gas turbines burning hydrogen. Continue from the last week, we will take a deep dive into each of the following chapters:

01. Advantages of Hydrogen Gas Turbines

02. Pre-Conditions of a Hydrogen Power Plant

03. Hydrogen Combustion

04. Retrofit of Existing Gas Turbines

05. Current Capabilities of Gas Turbines Burning Hydrogen

02. Preconditions of a Hydrogen Power Plant

ETN describes the current technology pathways for hydrogen production, storage, and transport and highlights the importance of stability of supply as hydrogen availability on site is an essential precondition for its use as fuel in power generation.

Hydrogen Production

Hydrogen production is the first fundamental precondition of a hydrogen power plant, and four decarbonized hydrogen production paths are identified here:

1. Water electrolysis

2. Natural gas reformation

3. Solid fuel gasification

4. Biomass transformation

An essential precondition for using hydrogen as fuel in power generation is based on its availability at site, considering transportation and storage solutions. Water electrolysis and reforming of hydrocarbons are currently the main state-of-the-art technologies to produce hydrogen. Nowadays it is not economically and technically feasible to produce a large amount of hydrogen via electrolysis. Nonetheless, reforming of hydrocarbons could be used to start the implementation of a hydrogen-based energy infrastructure.

Hydrogen Storage and Transport

Storage and transport will be crucial for the deployment of hydrogen in the future energy system. Technological solutions are closely connected to the physical state of the hydrogen and/or if it is in its pure form or bound to other molecules. These different states are described as the following:

• Compressed hydrogen in gaseous state: transported via pipelines for a large-scale application is assumed to be the most efficient option

• Liquified hydrogen: Hydrogen turns into a liquid when it is cooled to a temperature below -252.87˚C at atmospheric pressure, which requires sophisticated insulated vessels

• Ammonia: Storage and transport of hydrogen in the form of ammonia

• Liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC)

Stability of Hydrogen Supply

The increasing share of fluctuating renewable electricity and the mismatch of production and demand profiles require energy to be stored in form of fuel.

Plant Installation and Commissioning, Plant Standards and Norms

There are no routines or standards exist for hydrogen plant installation and commissioning, which would include production, storage and power generation. One of the challenges is therefore to transfer and integrate the existing know-how of other industries to the power generation sector and, if necessary, adjust them to cover power plant specific conditions.

Section summaries are adopted from ETN’s full report on Hydrogen Gas Turbines. This report can be found in Here.

Recently, Hydrogen Working Group of European Turbine Network (ETN Global) published a new report entitled “ETN Hydrogen Gas Turbines – The Path Towards a Zero-Carbon Gas Turbine.”  The main objectives of this report is to highlight potential benefits and challenges on the hydrogen uses in gas turbines. The report also assesses pre-conditions to the implementation of a hydrogen power plant, requirements for retrofit of existing gas turbines, and current capabilities of gas turbines burning hydrogen. For next five weeks, we will take a deep dive into each of the following chapters:

01. Advantages of Hydrogen Gas Turbines

02. Pre-Conditions of a Hydrogen Power Plant

03. Hydrogen Combustion

04. Retrofit of Existing Gas Turbines

05. Current Capabilities of Gas Turbines Burning Hydrogen

01. Advantages of Hydrogen Gas Turbines

While worldwide decarbonization of the power generation sector is feasible by expanding its area to renewable energy sources (RES), these renewable sources provide a fluctuating electricity supply which needs to be retained by other forms of reliable, affordable, and sustainable power generation. ETN describes that use of hydrogen in the power sector will make a significant contribution to clean energy transition.

As of 2020, gas turbines already fulfill the balancing role in the energy system by extending the fuel capabilities to hydrogen, in addition to predominant roles in long-term energy strategies:

• In combined cycle configuration (CCGT), gas turbines are already the cleanest form of thermal power generation
• Mixing renewable gas (hydrogen, biogas, and syngas) with natural gas enables further reduction in net CO2 emissions.
• Industries are committed to enable gas turbines to run entirely on renewable gas fuels by 2030 to achieve capabilities for zero-carbon gas-fired power generation
• Gas turbines are flexible and complementary to the variable RES

ETN further describes the advantages of hydrogen gas turbines. Hydrogen gas turbines are complement the intermittent nature of wind and solar power as back-up power. Hydrogen can be produced through electrolysis, using excess renewable power during periods of abundant wind and daylight sources, or by natural gas reformation if carbon capture technology is utilized. This cyclic-generation process tells us that sufficient hydrogen supply can be generated on short notice, and further enables the creation of a hydrogen infrastructure including storage.

Retrofitting Existing Gas Turbines and Utilizing the Existing Natural Gas Infrastructure

The development of retrofit solutions for existing gas turbines will be a key enabler for the implementation of the hydrogen gas turbine technology. Relatively small modification to existing combustors would allow co-firing of hydrogen to significant fractions. With extensive field experience, new types of combustors can be developed which allows up to 100% hydrogen firing. Moreover, slight to no modification is required to the existing natural gas infrastructure in order to source the hydrogen fuel.

100% Emission Compliance and Sector Coupling For Deeper Decarbonization

With dry low NOx (DLN) technology, hydrogen gas turbine has the potential to reduce or eliminate NOx emissions. In addition to emission compliance, the wasted heat from hydrogen gas turbines in Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants can be used.

Wider Hydrogen Deployment

Development and utilization of hydrogen gas turbines can stimulate commercial demand for large amount of low purity hydrogen, thus reducing the production costs and to its wider deployment in multiple sectors. Shift from coal-fired to gas-fired power generation and to 100% carbon neutral gas-fired power by using hydrogen would accelerate decarbonization process globally in next 10 years.

Section summaries are adopted from ETN’s full report on Hydrogen Gas Turbines. This report can be found in Here.

Japanese technology conglomerate Hitachi will withdraw from Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS), a joint venture it established in 2014 with another power equipment giant, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), over a dispute stemming from construction of two massive defect-ridden coal plants in South Africa.

Read the full article in Here.