Funding Wizard

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’S) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) are focused on developing advancements in new materials needed to operate in extreme environments. FECM has previously supported the development of hydrogen turbines for coal gasification systems with pre-combustion carbon capture. This approach, with a water gas shift, produces a pure hydrogen fuel for the gas turbine and was also considered for fuel cell applications. More recently, the focus has been on high hydrogen content-fueled (70%-100% hydrogen) turbines. In this application, combustion characteristics pose a challenge. Hydrogen is a fast-burning fuel with high flame speeds, causing issues with most modern dry low-nitrogen oxide (NOx) combustors on industrial gas turbines. Previous DOE-funded research investigated issues related to hydrogen use in turbines and its effects on combustion, materials, and aerothermal heat transfer. Significant progress was made in resolving the understanding of auto-ignition, flashback, thermo-acoustics, mixing requirements and other combustion-related phenomena.A significant amount of work remains before a full commercial offering of 100% hydrogen-fueled turbines. After the hydrogen concentration exceeds 75%, there is a significant change in combustion behavior that will require new combustor designs, sensor locations, and control schemes to detect the flame and monitor for flashback and thermoacoustic instabilities. NOx emissions may become an issue at higher hydrogen concentrations due to increased flame temperature and limitations of current pre-mixed dilution technologies. Standard catalytic NOx reduction technologies with some modifications could still be a viable approach. The higher flame temperatures and increased water content could also affect the lifetime of metal hot gas path parts and ceramic recession, thereby increasing the need for new materials and coating and improved cooling schemes.This FOA focuses on development of these hot gas path parts, and specifically the advancement of ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials to increase the temperature range of the hot gas