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Seoul [South Korea], October 18 (ANI): A field test will be conducted on an environmentally friendly hydrogen combustor for residential gas turbines that lowers carbon dioxide emissions.

A hydrogen co-firing combustor for gas turbines used in power generation has been created by the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Sang Jin Park, hereafter referred to as the KIMM), an organisation under the control of the Ministry of Science and ICT. This technology was created for the first time in South Korea, and KIMM intends to demonstrate how it could be used in power plants.

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Since July 2020, the research team under the direction of Dr Minkuk Kim, head of the Department of Zero-carbon Fuel and Power Generation at the KIMM Institute of Carbon Neutral Energy Machinery, has been working with 13 business, academic, and research partners to develop an environmentally friendly combustor for domestic gas turbines with 30% hydrogen co-firing. In 2023, a field demonstration project with Doosan Energy and Korea East-West Power Company will begin.

Due to hydrogen's high reactivity as a fuel, extreme temperatures and flashbacks are possible. KIMM enhanced a fuel injection technique, comprising fuel split, staging, and fuel hole modification, in order to mitigate these hazards. These were utilised with the Doosan Energy large-duty gas turbine. It was therefore possible to burn a mixture of 30 per cent hydrogen fuel while reducing NOx and combustion instability to the same level as the original LNG gas turbine.

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Many efforts were made in the past to advance the development of hydrogen co-firing combustors, but it was difficult to verify their performance since South Korea lacked adequate facilities for conducting combustion tests. As a result, during the development phase, the KIMM combustor was transported to the German Aerospace Center (DLR), where it successfully completed combustion tests in a high-pressure setting. The gas turbine's performance was evaluated in accordance with these criteria, which simulate the gas turbine's actual operating settings. On South Korea's path to carbon neutrality, the development of hydrogen co-firing technology by local research institutions and its application to domestic gas turbines is a significant development.

Compared to 100% LNG power generation, CO2 emissions can be reduced by 10.4% when gas turbines use fuel combined with 30% hydrogen. By 2024, KIMM aims to reduce CO2 by 21.4% by increasing the percentage of hydrogen in fuel by over 50%. Additionally, the team is concentrating its research efforts on the aim of creating a hydrogen combustion technology that is 100% carbon-free by 2030.

On October 12, KIMM's main headquarters in Daejeon hosted a briefing on the creation of a 300MW class gas turbine hydrogen co-firing combustor. KIMM presented the specifics of their work on the fundamental technologies involved in redesigning the hydrogen combustor during this meeting. The results of Doosan Energy's high-pressure combustion test were also disclosed, and Korea East-West Power Company's Korea Institute of Future Convergence Technology announced plans to conduct hydrogen gas turbine power plant demonstrations.

"It is essential to develop hydrogen fuel conversion technology for medium and large-sized gas turbines and to conduct demonstrations at power plants in order to transition to an eco-friendly and carbon-free energy society," KIMM President Sang Jin Park said during the briefing session. "At the moment, developments of combustion and turbine systems are in their final stages. A decision of turbine manufacturers Doosan Enerbility and Korea East-West Power Company to test the new technology at power plants has been made."

He also emphasized, "In order for domestic technology to be commercialized in a timely manner without fail, the government's interest and support in selecting a demonstration site are necessary. This is because such a process is otherwise impossible through the will of the private sector alone due to the nature of the power generation industry."

President Park added, "Unlike LNG heavy-duty gas turbine in South Korea, which began as a fast follower, this hydrogen combustor is technologically equivalent to those from leading companies. If we can accelerate its commercialization through demonstration projects will help pave the way for South Korea's next-generation new growth industry." (ANI)

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