Domestic Catalytic boiler module bridging the gap to a hydrogen network

家庭供暖约占英国二氧化碳排放量的14%，约85%的家庭使用燃气锅炉供暖。根据《气候变化法》的规定，到2050年，有真实的需要减少家庭二氧化碳排放，以实现政府的净零目标。在家用锅炉中使用氢气为家庭供暖是脱碳的途径之一，详见英国氢战略。这可能涉及使用100%氢气或天然气和氢气的混合物。使用氢气可能会导致家用锅炉系统出现一些问题：-氢气燃烧时的绝热火焰温度高于天然气，这意味着锅炉组件需要针对更极端的条件进行设计。更高的火焰温度可能会增加一氧化二氮（NOx）的生成量，其可能高达约39%，“平均”增加8%。NOx的存在可能导致健康问题，特别是在人口密集的地区，那里有高浓度的锅炉。我们需要一种方法来改造现有的中央供暖系统，使其与作为燃料来源的氢气兼容。我们开发了一种独特的供暖系统，该系统基于催化燃烧技术，能够改造现有的燃气锅炉。一个关键的优势是它与现有的家庭供暖基础设施，如管道和散热器的兼容性。在这个项目中，我们将建立一个示范单位，以证明我们的概念，在“真实的世界”的条件下运行，以了解和测量性能。然后，我们将使用这些信息来扩大这些单元的设计和制造，作为广泛采用我们新技术的推动者。

Domestic heating accounts for approximately 14% of the UK's CO2 emissions, with about 85% of homes using gas-fired boilers to provide heating. There is a real need to reduce household CO2 emissions to meet the Government's Net Zero Targets by 2050, as set out under the Climate Change Act.The use of hydrogen gas in domestic boilers to heat homes is one of the routes to decarbonisation, detailed in the UK Hydrogen Strategy. This could involve the use of either 100% hydrogen gas or a blend of natural gas and hydrogen.The use of hydrogen could cause a number of issues with domestic boiler systems:-Hydrogen gas burns with a higher adiabatic flame temperature than natural gas, which means that boiler components will need to be engineered for more extreme conditions.-The higher flame temperature is likely to increase the amount of nitrous oxide (NOx) generation, which could be as high as about 39%, with an "averaged" increase of 8%.The presence of NOx could lead to health issues, especially in densely populated areas, where there is a high concentration of boilers. We need a method of adapting existing central heating systems to make them compatible with hydrogen as a fuel source.We have developed a unique heating system, based on catalytic combustion technology, capable of being retrofitted to existing gas boilers. A key advantage is its compatibility with existing domestic heating infrastructure, such as pipework and radiators.In this project, we will build a demonstrator unit to prove our concept, operating it under "real world" conditions to understand and measure performance. We will then use this information to scale up the design and manufacture of these units, as an enabler to widespread adoption of our novel technology.