In June, Phoenix BioPower conducted a series of combustion tests at the TU Berlin test rig for different fuels and fuel blends led by Felix Güthe of Phoenix BioPower and Simeon Dybe of TUB.
Pure hydrogen flame with ~50% steam.
One key outcome was to verify that pure hydrogen can be used in our combustion system with near-zero NOx emissions (<1ppm), no CO emissions, and therefore, with just steam as the combustion product. That is about as clean as combustion can be!
In addition, we also verified successful shifts between different fuels while in operation; i.e. the combustion system can switch from natural gas to syngas to hydrogen without blow-out or emissions related issues and with a stable flame throughout transition. The tests were conducted at atmospheric conditions with full-scale burner and across a wide operating envelope to capture true engine performance.
With this effort, we have now shown three key advantages of our Phoenix Advanced Combustion System (PACS): safe operation with hydrogen over a wide range of operating points, much lower NOx emissions than conventional systems, and extreme fuel flexibility. We are therefore confident that our technology will be ideal for utilizing renewable fuels, such as gasified biomass residues and pure hydrogen, in the future energy system.
In the coming project “PACS 2020”, which will run from 2020-2023 and is co-funded by Eurostars, the burner and system will be further developed towards a commercial product, with medium-pressure testing and detailed optimization in focus.
Exciting times ahead!
