Colloquium - 12 December 2023 – Prof. Ferrante Antonio, Centro Combustione Ambiente Spa
Title: Europe’s role in research into the use of hydrogen & Helios project
Time: 2023-12-12 19:00 - 20:00
Venue: Institute for Energy Research, 1501
Organizer: Institute for Energy Research
Abstract: The European Commission’s priority is to develop clean and renewable hydrogen, produced using mainly renewable energy, an option compatible with the EU’s long-term climate neutrality objective, as well as being the most consistent with an integrated energy system. However, particularly in the short- and medium-term transition phase, other forms of low-carbon hydrogen are considered necessary to rapidly reduce emissions from existing hydrogen production and support the development of a sustainable market on a significant, but this should not result in stranded assets. To create an ecosystem for the growth of these decarbonization goals, the EU has launched and promoted several industrial, funding research and innovation initiatives on hydrogen.
This lecture describes the activities undertaken by the European Union to achieve a decarbonized society and as an example illustrates a research project funded by the EU itself for the use of H2 in gas turbines. The experimental part of the Project will be carried out at Centro Combustione Ambiente Spa in Italy. Gas turbines are the most robust, flexible, proven, and cost-effective technology, especially for distributed and large-scale power generation. A proven approach to decarbonize the fuel of gas turbines, and thus their carbon intensity is to mix natural gas with increasing amounts of hydrogen. As such, it becomes essential yet technologically challenging for gas turbines to operate on any variable mixture of natural gas and hydrogen including 100% hydrogen. HELIOS will develop the needed technology for hydrogen combustion as a global retrofit solution for operating and installing gas turbines based on the commercially operating FlameSheet™ combustor platform contributed by our project partner, Netherland-based Thomassen Energy BV. Essential for this approach is a sound fundamental understanding of hydrogen combustion, combined with advanced numerical modeling and measurement techniques in a full-size combustor. This is imperative to realize the required technological developments for the utilization of hydrogen-enriched natural gas with the FlameSheet™ combustor. The HELIOS project will start with gas-turbine combustion rig testing at well-defined lab conditions (Technology Readiness Level, TRL, 4) and will reach realistic conditions in a relevant environment (TRL 6) by the end of the project, with full-scale high-pressure rig test validation. Besides the technical developments, HELIOS will help enable and accelerate the emergence of an immense innovative ecosystem and create economically feasible future adoption and commercialization of this technology at a cost-effective scale. The decarbonized repurposing of these existing power generation assets becomes vital as a complement to the massive introduction of inherently intermittent renewable energy sources used for electricity generation. Gas turbines offer grid inertia and stability whilst also generating at-scale, dispatchable firming capacity needed to balance. This HELIOS project will contribute significantly to solving the substantial challenges that Europe faces by making its energy system secure, cost-competitive, clean, flexible, and resilient.
