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Projects: Projects for Investigator
Reference Number	MR/T019735/1
Title	Hydrogen fuel technologies for future propulsion and power (HOPE)
Status	Started
Energy Categories	Hydrogen and Fuel Cells(Hydrogen) 100%;
Research Types	Basic and strategic applied research 100%
Science and Technology Fields	ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering) 100%
UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation	Not Cross-cutting 100%
Principal Investigator	Dr M Talibi Mechanical Engineering University College London
Award Type	Fellowship
Funding Source	UKRI
Start Date	30 September 2020
End Date	29 September 2024
Duration	48 months
Total Grant Value	£1,108,660
Total Project Value	£1,108,660
Industrial Sectors
Region	London
Programme
Investigators	Principal Investigator	Dr M Talibi , Mechanical Engineering, University College London (100.000%)
Web Site
Objectives	Objectives not supplied
Abstract	Current and future energy policies are increasingly aiming to reduce carbon emissions from the propulsion and power sector. The combustion of fossil fuels releases carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2), and there is consensus that the rapid anthropogenic emission of fossil bound carbon is resulting in global climate change. Co-currently, there is growing awareness of the negative impacts of toxic exhaust pollutants from fossil fuel combustion, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbonaceous soot or particulate matter (PM), on the health of urban populations. While electrification offers a potential replacement for fossil fuels, the electric powertrain is currently only suitable for light duty applications, such as passenger vehicles. There are several high energy requirement applications (aircraft, off-road vehicles in military and construction, thermal power generation) for which currently no appropriate alternative to combustion engines exists. Hydrogen (H2) has the potential of emerging as the leading energy carrier for the next generation of zero-carbon emission combustion systems. H2 fuelled gas turbines are potentially capable of providing very efficient energy conversion with no carbon emissions, and will be able to span the power and weight requirements of land-based power generation and aero-propulsion. H2 can offer significant benefits over hydrocarbon fuels; its wide flammability range allows very lean combustion, low ignition energy ensures prompt ignition and high diffusivity facilitates efficient air-fuel mixing. However, the utilisation of H2 for combustion is hindered by considerable challenges. Its high flame speed can intensify risks of flame instability and flashback, adversely affecting operation, and high rates of heat release (leading to high thermal loading), combined with H2's corrosive properties, can lead to combustor damage. This means that current gas turbine combustors are not suitable for pure H2 combustion and will have to be re-designed. Complex reactions, turbulent conditions and complicated geometries means that conventional design techniques (such as simulation tools) need to be revised for H2 combustion. Comprehensive experimental campaigns are required to fulfil the gaps in our understanding of fundamental H2 combustion, and to identify regimes for high efficiency and near-zero emission operation in practical H2 combustion systems. In order to set out new design and operation principles for H2 combustors, the research proposed will (a) identify strategies for H2 injection and efficient mixing with air to create a uniformly distributed H2-air mixture, (b) identify suitable operating conditions that result in favourable flame behaviour with suppressed NOx emissions, (c) identify suitable materials for use with H2 at elevated pressures and temperatures, (d) understand the influence of acoustic boundary conditions on combustion instabilities and (e) investigate the effects of translating concepts studied in a-d vary from lab-scale to large-scale systems operating at practical conditions. The fundamental principles associated with H2 combustion will be developed and evaluated through rigorous experimentation at laboratory scale, and then implemented in two different types of semi-industrial scale combustion systems, (i) representative of industrial small gas turbine for power generation, and (ii) scaled down version of the pre-burner component of the SABRE rocket engine. The experiments performed on these semi-industrial systems will lay the foundations for the follow-on research (beyond the 4 years of this fellowship) to integrate H2-fuelled combustors in full-scale industrial multi-cannular gas turbines and in full-scale rocket engines. The research outcomes will provide underpinning scientific knowledge on H2 combustion for the project partners, Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery Ltd. and Reaction Engines Ltd. (REL), giving them a direct uptake route for this research.
Publications	(none)
Final Report	(none)
Added to Database	28/09/22