Using Hydrogen Blends as Fuel in a Swirl Burner

• Published in: IOP conference series. Materials Science and Engineering 2020-06, Vol.870 (1), p.12154
• Main Author: Abdulsada, Mohammed H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Blowoff; Flashback; Hydrogen; Swirl
• ISSN: 1757-8981; 1757-899X
• DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/870/1/012154

Lean premixed combustion using hydrogen fuel blends is important for reducing carbon emissions to the environment in the forthcoming technology of gas turbine combustors. In relative terms, pure hydrogen shows promise as a likely upcoming fuel for use in power generation. This is achieved by new burner designs that use a low fuel equivalence ratio (having a great calorific value of hydrogen) and burn to release relatively low NOx emissions. This article explains extensively the experimental results of the swirl burner model using pure hydrogen and hydrogen-enriched methane blends. In addition, the paper discusses the problems of flashback and blowoff and the ability to switch fuels. However, fuel blends that use a high hydrogen percentage give significantly less working operational area between flashback and blowoff when compared to CH4. Safety problems are one of the challenges in using hydrogen blends, and there is a potential for serious danger because of the high rates of burning of the fuel mixture, the propensity for flashback, and the high degree of combustion instability sometimes caused in quenching the flame. Coke oven gas (COG) has a high hydrogen percentage and provides less operational area. Blowoff limits were found to improve as the outlet velocity increased and can be further mitigated with flame confinement.