SAMARA, August 18. /TASS/. Scientists at the Vodorod SM Design Bureau of Samara National Research University named after academician S.P. Korolev together with specialists from JSC “Power Machines” created and tested Russia's first burner for gas turbine units (GTU) which can run on pure hydrogen, the Samara University Press Service told TASS on Thursday.
"This universal burner is designed for promising gas-turbine units of the future. The versatility lies in the fact that this burner will make it possible to use almost any gaseous fuel at the unit - it includes methane, methane-hydrogen mixtures and even 100% hydrogen, which meets the environmental agenda of green energy. Further work is planned to expand the capabilities of this burner to burn synthesis gas. By the way, this is the first burner of this kind in Russia that can operate on pure hydrogen," said Sergey Matveev, head of the Vodorod SM design bureau, senior researcher of the Scientific educational center of gas-dynamics research at Samara University.
The new burner, which is an important part of the GTU combustion chamber, was created using space technology - the principle of the combustion process resembles that of a rocket engine. "This burner differs from analogues by the very principle of organizing the combustion process, that is, here the combustion is based on burning a fuel-air mixture in micro flares. Technologically, it is similar to a space rocket's liquid jet engine, meaning, the principle is taken from there and optimized for the GTU. The design of the device is going to be patented," noted Matveev.
Scientists expect that such burners will be suitable not only for new gas turbines, but also for modifying existing units in the future.
State-of-the-art and environmentally friendly design
The new burners have a special feature, they have a silent mode of operation, which increases the reliability of the entire unit, according to the university’s press service. Normally, gas turbines produce a noise because of the combustion process, specifically because of fluctuations of flame fronts in the combustion chamber. These vibrations can sometimes lead to the destruction of the structural elements of the unit, that is why the acoustic characteristics of the combustion chamber are so important.
Preliminary tests of the burner on different fuels also showed that the content of hazardous nitrogen oxides NOx is much lower in the combustion products than among the burners currently used as part of GTUs.
Further studies of fundamental combustion processes of methane-hydrogen mixtures and hydrogen are planned to be carried out within the framework of the project that won the 2022 contest of the Presidential Program of the Russian Science Foundation for a grant in the direction "Conducting Research by Scientific Groups under the Direction of Young Scientists".