Two General Electric Corp. proposals for implementing 100% hydrogen combustion technology in industrial gas turbines have been chosen further research by the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. The $12 million funding to be provided by DOE will allow GE to develop these in its F-class industrial gas turbine platforms—offering further development toward “a zero-carbon energy future,” according to a GE announcement.
The two selected projects are among six effort to receive a total $25 million in federal funding.
One of the projects, under the direction of GE Research and totaling close to $7 million, will study the operation of hydrogen-fueled turbine components on special rigs in its combustion test facility in Niskayuna, N.Y. The team will examine how gas turbine efficiency can be improved for both simple- and combined-cycle power generation applications.
The second project, led by GE Gas Power and totaling nearly $6 million, will study highly reactive hydrogen fuels to address the challenges associated with this type of combustion dynamics. As part of their program, the project team will develop and test gas turbine components with natural gas-hydrogen fuel mixtures and up to 100% hydrogen.
The awards also represent a milestone in GE’s efforts to advance hydrogen technologies for gas turbines and combined cycle power plants.
Last month, GE and Long Ridge Energy Terminal commissioned the first advanced class hydrogen-burning power plant in Hannibal, Ohio. The plant is powered by a GE 7HA.02 gas turbine, which can burn up to 20% hydrogen by volume in the gas stream initially, with GE’s technology roadmap developed to burn more over time.
Jeffrey Goldmeer, Emergent Technologies Director at GE Gas Power, said the new projects with the DOE will be a catalyst to accelerate GE’s progress toward 100% hydrogen combustion: “The investments the agency is making will help us accelerate the development and testing of retrofittable F-class combustion systems capable of operation on 100% hydrogen using a combination of micro mixer and axial fuel staging technologies.”
