Decarbonisation
Oxy-Fuel burner testing with Hydrogen and Ethanol Martin Adendorff*, Robert L. Bell** and Shrikar Chakravarti*** discuss Linde’s efforts to optimise its burner portfolio for use with hydrogen and other green fuels in the glassmaking process.
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This paper focuses on efforts at Linde’s combustion laboratories to optimise the Optifire burner portfolio for use with green fuels, e.g. H2, H2-NG blends, bioethanol.
H2-based combustion systems
Since 2018, Linde has been investigating the use of hydrogen fired oxyfuel burner systems for multiple industries including steel, glass and non-ferrous metals at their combustion technology centres in Sweden, Germany, and USA. Fig 1 highlights some of the upgrades at the combustion lab in Germany, which
� Fig 1. Upgrading Combustion Lab in Germany for H2 testing
includes: 1. New transportable 500 kW EN 746-2 (similar to NFPA 86) compliant hydrogen oxygen control system with a fail-safe PLC, Land NDIR furnace camera. 2. New flue gas analysers. 3. Trailer based hydrogen supply system, comprising of a high-pressure reduction station, supply piping and end use low pressure reduction stations to two locations at the combustion laboratory. 4. Relining the combustion furnace with a 1600°C fibre refractory material to allow faster heat-up and more comprehensive testing at high furnace temperatures, similar to those in commercial glass furnaces.
Current tests are focused on understanding the impact of using NG, H2 and H2-NG blends with multiple burner types on various physical flame parameters and emissions. Fig 2 is an example of a burner trial (firing rate of 400 kW) for a specific glass customer. The combustion laboratory in the US has also been upgraded to facilitate testing with H2 and H2-NG blends. Fig 3 illustrates open air trials with the Optifire COROX-R burner, which has been especially optimised for speciality glass/ borosilicate furnaces. Linde has designed the Optifire XD burner to mitigate condensate buildup Continued>>
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ue to the increased emphasis on sustainability, glass companies are looking for ways to substantially reduce CO2 emissions from their operations, especially from the melting process. One approach is through use of low carbon fuels, examples of which include renewable hydrogen, biofuels, biogas, biomass-derived syngas, and renewable ammonia. In particular, hydrogen is considered as the fuel of the future to eliminate CO2 emissions from combustion of hydrocarbon fuels. The first large scale demonstration of 100% hydrogen firing in a glass furnace was conducted recently at Pilkington UK’s St Helens facility, as part of the HyNet Industrial Fuel Switching project.1 However, long term adoption of H2 as a fuel in glass melting operation will require: 1. Modification of burner and fuel piping systems. 2. Understanding impact of higher water vapor concentration in furnace atmosphere on glass chemistry and refractory life. 3. Cost-effective generation and supply of clean H2.
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