We were part of a European collaboration which provided technical solutions to enable the combustion of hydrogen-rich syngas in gas turbines, forming part of the next generation of Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plants.
Key facts
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The €17.8 million H2-IGCC project was coordinated by the European Turbine Network (ETN) and ran for four and a half years.
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The collaboration involved 24 partner organisations (five utility companies, two original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), a service provider and 16 research institutes / universities including ourselves).
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H2-IGCC supported the European Union’s drive to reduce CO2 emissions by delivering technical solutions to enable the combustion of hydrogen-rich syngas in highly efficient gas turbines.
- Funded by European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)
Impact of our research
If the EU is to meet its CO2 reduction targets, fossil fuel power generation systems must become more efficient and incorporate carbon capture and storage (CCS).
H2-IGCC aimed to support this drive by developing materials technologies that enable gas turbines to operate in advanced power generation systems burning hydrogen-rich syngas with CCS, while maintaining the reliability and fuel flexibility achieved with conventional natural gas. As part of this collaborative project, we led the development of advanced blade coating systems, employing our own advanced test facilities to assess performance and develop life prediction models.
Why the research was commissioned
The challenge of H2-IGCC was to enable the stable and controllable combustion of undiluted hydrogen-rich syngas in state-of-the-art gas turbines, with emissions similar to current natural gas systems. The technologies that were developed also had to be flexible by allowing the burning of back-up fuels such as conventional natural gas without adversely affecting efficiency, reliability and availability.
The overall goal was to support the commercial deployment of systems that would form part of the next generation of low / zero emissions Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plants.
Why Cranfield?
Our knowledge and expertise in the fields of coatings and combustion is acknowledged worldwide, and the unique facilities established by our internationally-recognised researchers and academics were vital to supporting the development and testing requirements of this project.
