Emissions and Performance Implications of Hydrogen Fuel in Heavy Duty Gas Turbines

The document analyzes the transition of heavy-duty gas turbines from natural gas to hydrogen, identifying critical engineering hurdles in combustion, thermal management, and materials. It evaluates current OEM solutions and concludes that while 100% hydrogen capability is technically feasible, commercial timelines depend on hydrogen availability for full-scale validation.

• Hydrogen combustion in gas turbines is not expected to negatively impact generating capacity (MW) or overall efficiency (heat rate), and may even increase output by approximately 3% with 100% hydrogen fuel.
• A significant challenge is the potential for NOx emissions to increase due to hydrogen's high adiabatic flame temperatures; without mitigation, 100% hydrogen can lead to NOx emissions exceeding 500 ppm.
• Hydrogen's high flame speed and low ignition energy increase the risk of flashback, where the flame migrates upstream to the fuel injectors, potentially causing severe hardware damage.
• Increased water vapor in combustion products from hydrogen fuel enhances heat transfer to hot gas path components, risking material degradation such as creep, thermal-mechanical fatigue, and coating spallation.
• Current commercial offerings from major OEMs typically support hydrogen/natural gas blends of 30% to 65% by volume, though achieving a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions requires approximately 75% hydrogen by volume.
• OEMs are pursuing various combustion technologies to reach 100% hydrogen capability, including micromixers (GE), multi-cluster diffusion combustion (MHI), and sequential combustion (Ansaldo Energia).
• The commercialization of high-hydrogen turbines is constrained by the lack of adequate hydrogen supply needed to perform full-scale validation and acceptance testing of integrated power blocks.

APA

Shilling, N. Z. (2023). Emissions and Performance Implications of Hydrogen Fuel in Heavy Duty Gas Turbines. Clean Air Task Force. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/13144950/emissions-performance-implications-hydrogen-fuel-heavy-duty-gas-turbines.pdf

Chicago

Shilling, Norman Z. Emissions and Performance Implications of Hydrogen Fuel in Heavy Duty Gas Turbines. Clean Air Task Force, 2023. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/13144950/emissions-performance-implications-hydrogen-fuel-heavy-duty-gas-turbines.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Shilling |first1=Norman Z |title=Emissions and Performance Implications of Hydrogen Fuel in Heavy Duty Gas Turbines |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=June 2023 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/13144950/emissions-performance-implications-hydrogen-fuel-heavy-duty-gas-turbines.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{shilling2023emissions, author = {Shilling, Norman Z}, title = {{Emissions and Performance Implications of Hydrogen Fuel in Heavy Duty Gas Turbines}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2023}, month = jun, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/13144950/emissions-performance-implications-hydrogen-fuel-heavy-duty-gas-turbines.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }