Transitioning to hydrogen based power generation through a novel, fuel-flex, gas turbine injector concept

为了防止即将到来的气候灾难，迫切需要减轻发电部门的气候排放。过渡到绿色氢代替天然气作为燃气轮机发电厂的首选燃料正在迅速成为一种可行的解决方案，特别是在加拿大，那里丰富的水电使整个能源循环中的碳足迹最小。为了实现这一转变，西门子能源加拿大公司和加拿大国家研究理事会对开发燃料柔性喷嘴非常感兴趣，该燃料柔性喷嘴可以允许作为燃气涡轮机燃料的100%氢气到100%天然气之间的任何地方的无缝操作，同时确保排放方面的严格可操作性范围以及安全稳定的操作。由于燃料的物理和化学性质差异很大，这是一个严峻的挑战。燃料喷射技术的组合：一个从旋流器喷射的主流和另一个基于微混合的喷射的新的主燃烧区上游已经出现作为一个可能的概念之间的科学家从西门子能源加拿大和NRC。为了实现这一想法，来自麦吉尔大学、蒙特利尔理工大学和多伦多大学的一个学术团队将对这一概念进行详细的激光测量和高保真模拟，以确定和理解可实现的可操作性范围。这将通过学术机构和NRC与西门子能源加拿大公司密切合作领导的工作包的组合来实现。这些包括但不限于确定的近场混合特性的微混合射流，燃烧效率和排放，静态和动态稳定性信封，火焰稳定的机制，和火焰壁相互作用。这些结果将允许系统地开发具有良好定义的操作包线的燃料柔性、微混合-预混合喷嘴。该喷嘴可能成为将高效的天然气动力加拿大发电厂转变为氢气的核心技术，从而显着减少其整体碳足迹，并保持其在发电行业的技术经济领导地位。

There is great urgency in mitigating the climate forcing emissions from the power generation sector in the quest to prevent the impending climate catastrophe. Transitioning to green hydrogen in place of natural gas as the fuel of choice for gas turbine-based power plants is fast emerging as a feasible solution, especially in Canada where abundant hydroelectricity enables minimal carbon footprint in the entire energy cycle. To enable this transition, there is great interest at Siemens Energy Canada and the National Research Council Canada to develop fuel flexible nozzles that can allow seamless operation anywhere on and between 100% hydrogen to 100% natural gas as the gas turbine fuel while ensuring strict operability envelope in terms of emissions, and safe and stable operation. Given the vastly different fuel physical and chemical properties, this is a stiff challenge. A combination of fuel injection techniques: one primary stream injected from the swirler and another novel micromixing based injection just upstream of the primary combustion zone has emerged as a possible concept among scientists from Siemens Energy Canada and NRC. To bring this idea to fruition, a team of academics from McGill University, Polytechnique Montréal, and University of Toronto will perform detailed laser-based measurements and high-fidelity simulations on this concept to identify and understand the operability envelopes achievable. This will be enabled by a combination of work-packages led by the academic institutes and by NRC in close collaboration with Siemens Energy Canada. These include but are not limited to determining the near field mixing characteristics of the micromixing jets, combustion efficiency and emissions, static and dynamic stability envelopes, mechanisms of flame stabilization, and flame-wall interaction. The outcomes will allow systematic development of the fuel-flex, micromix-premix nozzle with well defined operation envelope. The nozzle could emerge as a centerpiece technology in transitioning the highly efficient natural gas powered, Canadian power plants to hydrogen, thereby significantly reducing their overall carbon footprint and retaining their techno-economic leadership in the power-generation sector.