The Vodorod SM design bureau in Samara is working on the development of Russia’s first methane-hydrogen-fueled gas-turbine unit for heat and power supply.
The design bureau was created by Academician S.P. Korolev Samara National Research University and Power Machines. The technical design of the unit is supposed to be completed in 2023. Then a prototype will be made at the Power Machines facility.
Scientists explain that they are engaged in a new direction in the Russian energy industry. Such a gas turbine unit will be more environmentally friendly compared to kerosene or natural gas-based counterparts.
“The first project is a combustion chamber for the promising 65-megawatt GTE-65V gas-turbine power plant. The methane-hydrogen mixture will increase the turbine’s capacity and reduce the amount of harmful emissions into the atmosphere,” said KB chief Sergei Matveev.
Scientists have found out that a mixture with a hydrogen fraction of 40-50 percent will increase the capacity of the unit by about 10 percent. This equipment can be used at large enterprises, for heat and power supply of small towns or residential areas of megacities. When hydrogen is added, combustion is more complete. Therefore, total carbon dioxide emissions and fuel consumption will be reduced. The design bureau will also have to optimize the combustion chamber design, determine the most effective composition of the fuel mixture, and solve the problem of acoustic pulsations arising during fuel combustion.
The mixture of methane and hydrogen will increase the power of the turbine by about 10 per cent
The company chose Samara University for the collaboration for a reason. Research on hydrogen fuel has been going on in the region since the 1960s. The Engine Design Bureau under the guidance of academician Nikolai Kuznetsov created the unique NK-88 engine that ran on liquid hydrogen. It was installed at the experimental jet Tu-155 which first took off on April 15, 1988. It was the first airliner in the world to use hydrogen fuel.
At the same time scientists of another university, Samara Polytechnic Institute, are developing new technologies of hydrogen production based on decomposition of natural gas in metal melts. When methane is heated to high temperatures (over 1000 degrees) it decomposes into hydrogen and carbon nanoparticles. Methane is heated by passing it through a layer of molten metal in reactors. This method is environmentally friendly, as it does not release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
As the scientists explain, the reactors are vertical-cylindrical structures filled with molten metal, with a methane nozzle at the bottom. When designing the reactor, scientists pay special attention to its height and volume, so that the methane, passing through a layer of molten metal, is completely decomposed.
By the way
The company HitLab, based at the ULNANOTECH (RUSNANO) nanocenter, has developed a technology for storing hydrogen in solid form – in the form of magnesium hydride. It is safer than compressed gas or even ammonia. With a similar volume, it makes it possible to store more energy and can be used to create hydrogen power plants for transport and special refueling stations.
