Decarbonized combustion performance of a radiant mesh burner operating on pipeline natural gas mixed with hydrogen

Abstract

With the pressing need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, blending lower or zero carbon fuels like renewable hydrogen into natural gas is a promising and practical way to achieve clean energy transition. From the perspective of end users and combustion device manufactures, one of the major concerns is the influence of the renewable contents on the combustion devices performance. The possible renewable gas content percentage in pipeline also interests policy makers and gas utility companies. The present study investigates on the influence of hydrogen contents on the operating performance of a surface burner, which is widely adopted in industrial, commercial and residential applications. The interactions among heating load, excess air level and fuel contents are studied by a 3-factor∗3-level experiment design. Evaluated combustion performance characteristics include flame characteristics, burner/exhaust temperature and emissions (NO, NO2, N2O, CO, UHC, NH3). The results showed that hydrogen addition to natural gas slightly increased the burner surface temperature but did not have significant impact on other burner performance parameters. Up to 20% (by volume) natural gas was replaced by hydrogen, and no abnormal effect was observed. Furthermore, tests carried out in a prototype water heater showed similar performance. This study gives a positive sign relative to replacing pipeline natural gas with renewable hydrogen at a low percentage without modifying the burner geometry.