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Application of Low NOx Micro-mix Hydrogen Combustion to 2MW Class Industrial Gas Turbine Combustor
(2019)
Kawasaki Heavy Industries, LTD. (KHI) has research and development projects for a future hydrogen society. These projects comprise the complete hydrogen cycle, including the production of hydrogen gas, the refinement and liquefaction for transportation and storage, and finally the utilization in a gas turbine for electricity and heat supply. Within the development of the hydrogen gas turbine, the key technology is stable and low NOx hydrogen combustion, namely the Dry Low NOx (DLN) hydrogen combustion.
KHI, Aachen University of Applied Science, and B&B-AGEMA have investigated the possibility of low NOx micro-mix hydrogen combustion and its application to an industrial gas turbine combustor. From 2014 to 2018, KHI developed a DLN hydrogen combustor for a 2MW class industrial gas turbine with the micro-mix technology. Thereby, the ignition performance, the flame stability for equivalent rotational speed, and higher load conditions were investigated. NOx emission values were kept about half of the Air Pollution Control Law in Japan: 84ppm (O2-15%). Hereby, the elementary combustor development was completed.
From May 2020, KHI started the engine demonstration operation by using an M1A-17 gas turbine with a co-generation system located in the hydrogen-fueled power generation plant in Kobe City, Japan. During the first engine demonstration tests, adjustments of engine starting and load control with fuel staging were investigated. On 21st May, the electrical power output reached 1,635 kW, which corresponds to 100% load (ambient temperature 20 °C), and thereby NOx emissions of 65 ppm (O2-15, 60 RH%) were verified. Here, for the first time, a DLN hydrogen-fueled gas turbine successfully generated power and heat.
Combined with the use of renewable energy sources for its production, hydrogen represents a possible alternative gas turbine fuel for future low-emission power generation. Due to the difference in the physical properties of hydrogen compared to other fuels such as natural gas, well-established gas turbine combustion systems cannot be directly applied to dry low NOₓ (DLN) hydrogen combustion. The DLN micromix combustion of hydrogen has been under development for many years, since it has the promise to significantly reduce NOₓ emissions. This combustion principle for air-breathing engines is based on crossflow mixing of air and gaseous hydrogen. Air and hydrogen react in multiple miniaturized diffusion-type flames with an inherent safety against flashback and with low NOₓ emissions due to a very short residence time of the reactants in the flame region. The paper presents an advanced DLN micromix hydrogen application. The experimental and numerical study shows a combustor configuration with a significantly reduced number of enlarged fuel injectors with high-thermal power output at constant energy density. Larger fuel injectors reduce manufacturing costs, are more robust and less sensitive to fuel contamination and blockage in industrial environments. The experimental and numerical results confirm the successful application of high-energy injectors, while the DLN micromix characteristics of the design point, under part-load conditions, and under off-design operation are maintained. Atmospheric test rig data on NOₓ emissions, optical flame-structure, and combustor material temperatures are compared to numerical simulations and show good agreement. The impact of the applied scaling and design laws on the miniaturized micromix flamelets is particularly investigated numerically for the resulting flow field, the flame-structure, and NOₓ formation.
Combined with the use of renewable energy sources for its production, Hydrogen represents a possible alternative gas turbine fuel within future low emission power generation. Due to the large difference in the physical properties of Hydrogen compared to other fuels such as natural gas, well established gas turbine combustion systems cannot be directly applied for Dry Low NOx (DLN) Hydrogen combustion. Thus, the development of DLN combustion technologies is an essential and challenging task for the future of Hydrogen fuelled gas turbines. The DLN Micromix combustion principle for hydrogen fuel has been developed to significantly reduce NOx-emissions. This combustion principle is based on cross-flow mixing of air and gaseous hydrogen which reacts in multiple miniaturized diffusion-type flames. The major advantages of this combustion principle are the inherent safety against flash-back and the low NOx-emissions due to a very short residence time of reactants in the flame region of the micro-flames. The Micromix Combustion technology has been already proven experimentally and numerically for pure Hydrogen fuel operation at different energy density levels. The aim of the present study is to analyze the influence of different geometry parameter variations on the flame structure and the NOx emission and to identify the most relevant design parameters, aiming to provide a physical understanding of the Micromix flame sensitivity to the burner design and identify further optimization potential of this innovative combustion technology while increasing its energy density and making it mature enough for real gas turbine application. The study reveals great optimization potential of the Micromix Combustion technology with respect to the DLN characteristics and gives insight into the impact of geometry modifications on flame structure and NOx emission. This allows to further increase the energy density of the Micromix burners and to integrate this technology in industrial gas turbines.
Combined with the use of renewable energy sources for
its production, Hydrogen represents a possible alternative gas
turbine fuel for future low emission power generation. Due to
its different physical properties compared to other fuels such
as natural gas, well established gas turbine combustion
systems cannot be directly applied for Dry Low NOx (DLN)
Hydrogen combustion. This makes the development of new
combustion technologies an essential and challenging task
for the future of hydrogen fueled gas turbines.
The newly developed and successfully tested “DLN
Micromix” combustion technology offers a great potential to
burn hydrogen in gas turbines at very low NOx emissions.
Aiming to further develop an existing burner design in terms
of increased energy density, a redesign is required in order to
stabilise the flames at higher mass flows and to maintain low
emission levels.
For this purpose, a systematic design exploration has
been carried out with the support of CFD and optimisation
tools to identify the interactions of geometrical and design
parameters on the combustor performance. Aerodynamic
effects as well as flame and emission formation are observed
and understood time- and cost-efficiently. Correlations
between single geometric values, the pressure drop of the
burner and NOx production have been identified as a result.
This numeric methodology helps to reduce the effort of
manufacturing and testing to few designs for single
validation campaigns, in order to confirm the flame stability
and NOx emissions in a wider operating condition field.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (KHI), Aachen University of Applied Sciences, and B&B-AGEMA GmbH have investigated the potential of low NOx micro-mix (MMX) hydrogen combustion and its application to an industrial gas turbine combustor. Engine demonstration tests of a MMX combustor for the M1A-17 gas turbine with a co-generation system were conducted in the hydrogen-fueled power generation plant in Kobe City, Japan.
This paper presents the results of the commissioning test and the combined heat and power (CHP) supply demonstration. In the commissioning test, grid interconnection, loading tests and load cut-off tests were successfully conducted. All measurement results satisfied the Japanese environmental regulation values. Dust and soot as well as SOx were not detected. The NOx emissions were below 84 ppmv at 15 % O2. The noise level at the site boundary was below 60 dB. The vibration at the site boundary was below 45 dB.
During the combined heat and power supply demonstration, heat and power were supplied to neighboring public facilities with the MMX combustion technology and 100 % hydrogen fuel. The electric power output reached 1800 kW at which the NOx emissions were 72 ppmv at 15 % O2, and 60 %RH. Combustion instabilities were not observed. The gas turbine efficiency was improved by about 1 % compared to a non-premixed type combustor with water injection as NOx reduction method. During a total equivalent operation time of 1040 hours, all combustor parts, the M1A-17 gas turbine as such, and the co-generation system were without any issues.
