Hydrogen Combustion in Conventional Industrial Furnaces

Abstract

Using fossil fuels in industrial processes contributes significantly to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but governments are advancing efforts to support decarbonization. This research explores the potential of hydrogen as a substitute for natural gas in industrial furnaces. The main objective of this research is to assess the effects of fuel change on heat-transfer efficiency and GHG emissions, focusing on nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Through this analysis, the study aims to demonstrate the feasibility of hydrogen as a viable alternative to using natural gas in industrial furnaces. Experiments are conducted in an industrial furnace with a 60 kWt medium/high-speed burner that can run on traditional carbon-based fuels, such as natural gas or propane. The experimental set-up includes an air exchanger to simulate the typical process load of this scale and multiple measurement tools, including thermocouples, pressure gauges, air and fuel flowmeters, a spectrometer, and cameras RGB and Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-VIS) for combustion characterisation using computer vision techniques. The results show that, for a natural gas installation, it is possible to use hydrogen as fuel, obtaining similar heat transfer values. However, in terms of emissions, when hydrogen is used as fuel, a reduction of CO2 in the exhaust gases is observed but an increase of NOx, mainly due to the high flame temperatures.