Contact

The Invisible Flame

By

July 4, 2016

Image titel:

Sources:

The Invisible Flame

Christian-Paschereit

Prof. Paschereit at his test stand, © TU Berlin

The hope for future power plants has a name: BlueStep. A prototype at the Technical University of Berlin burns hydrogen and oxygen with the help of wet air – or, in other words, with the help of wet steam. The project’s predecessor, Greenest, which was launched with the same intention of advancing the development of low-emission plants, also injected steam into the combustor of a gas turbine. This so-called “wet combustion” can increase gas turbine efficiency by up to 15 percent, not to mention that the renewably produced hydrogen will severely cut plant emissions.

Panagiotis Stathopoulos is developing the future of the gas turbine. He is project leader of BlueStep and Greenest at TU Berlin’s Institute of Fluid Dynamics. A very narrow and steep staircase leads up to the fourth floor. When arriving at his office, visitors are rewarded with warm sunlight entering through the big windows. Here, Stathopoulos is working meticulously on a process that will enable the utilization of excess green power stored in hydrogen inside a gas turbine or steam plant without leaving many traces, many emissions. The project’s name stands for: Blue Combustion for the Storage of Green Electrical Power.

“Theoretically, the hydrogen flame is invisible,” Stathopoulos explained during a tour through the laboratories. The researcher born in Athens, Greece, has worked in Berlin for two years after receiving his doctorate from the ETH Zürich. This may explain his slight Swiss accent. In practice, however, the flame would, most of the time, contain other gases besides hydrogen, which would indeed make it visible to the eye, he continued. And the right combination of gases in the mixture is precisely what he has been searching for in collaboration with fellow researchers.

New BlueStep technology

Burning hydrogen with the help of oxygen still presents a technical challenge, as there hasn’t been any material able to withstand the extreme temperatures resulting from the process. The new approach uses steam to dilute the mixture considerably. The steam is available as a byproduct of the combustion inside the turbine at every steam plant. Now, this steam should be recovered and fed back into the steam cycle to increase plant efficiency. To do that, Stathopoulos and his fellow researchers have investigated different strategies and intake quantities.

Theoretical proof prompts award

link-to-e-journal-web

More steam to the rescue

Combine with electrolysis-generated hydrogen

….

Energy lab of TU Berlin

The laboratory building was inaugurated in late fall of 2013 at the Faculty of Experimental Fluid Mechanics. The grey, massive complex was put on five decoupled foundations to lessen the impact of vibrations transmitted through the ground. On an area measuring altogether 125 m², there are four labs, which contain four combustion test stands. The automation of the test stand‘s technology alone required close to ten …

Author: Niels Hendrik Petersen

Here are interesting and current articles on the topic of hydrogen – stocks and the stock market!

Economic prospects for companies in the hydrogen sector | Future, stocks & hydrogen companies on the stock exchange and more…

Which hydrogen companies will prevail in the competitive market in the long term? Get tips and cartwheels and learn more about risks or opportunities. Our stock market specialist and expert author Sven Jösting reports critically, independently and competently.

Feb 19 2025

Biggest change in the history of the cement industry

Interview with Erkam Kocakerim, CEO of Limak Cement Global Together with Air Liquide, Limak Cement...
Feb 17 2025

From CO2 capture to LOHC technology

Interview with Bryan Glover, CTO of Honeywell After more than 50 years of experience with...
Feb 17 2025

Reliable operation of fuel cells

System solutions for hydrogen supply and water separation Fuel cell systems have much fewer...
Feb 17 2025

The cleaner, the more support

Interview with Michelle Lujan Grisham, Governor of the US state of New Mexico The US is investing...
Feb 17 2025

Hydrogen for racing cars

Formula Student relies on H2 In the summer of 2025, the first hydrogen vehicles will compete...
Feb 13 2025

Shortage of skilled workers in the hydrogen economy

Various training courses at different institutions For around five years, the number of employees...
Feb 13 2025

Changes on the horizon

What developments! We are living in turbulent times. Several transformative processes are...
Feb 13 2025

Maximizing MEA efficiency with minimal iridium

The problem with iridium dependency The push for more sustainable hydrogen generation has never...
Feb 05 2025

The hydrogen economy needs to develop at greater speed

UFI Hydrogen may not yet be particularly well known to many industry participants in Germany, but...
Feb 05 2025

Hydrogen terminal in Braunschweig

Green hydrogen for research A research environment along the H2 value chain is being created at...
Jan 31 2025

Hydrogen production directly on the high seas

H2Mare researches offshore technologies Offshore wind power stations generate significantly more...
Jan 30 2025

Material testing as a guarantee of safety

Upgrading the gas infrastructure For hydrogen to be able to be used as an important part of the...
Jan 20 2025

The SHIMMER project

European multi-gas network is launched In the EU project SHIMMER, the German institute for...
Jan 17 2025

HH2E files for insolvency

Big plans and professional marketing – HH2E’s appearance was downright impressive, but on...
Jan 17 2025

No doubts about the core network

Gas network operators continue to count on political support In October 2024, the German Federal...
Jan 17 2025

Proton Motor lays off employees

The German fuel cell manufacturer Proton Motor has announced the provisional end of its production...
Jan 15 2025

ZBT expands HyTechLab4NRW

Nordrhein-Westfalen is further expanding its capacities in the H2 research sector. In September...
Jan 15 2025

Enertrag opens office in Hamburg

To strengthen its “role in the global hydrogen economy,” Enertrag, a developer and producer of...
Jan 13 2025

Construction and conversion of the infrastructure for H2 distribution

"Hydrogen can come, the gas distribution network is ready" There is extensive demand for hydrogen...
Jan 13 2025

Only a few stocks are on the winning side

Share analysis by Jörg Weber, ECOreporter The great excitement surrounding hydrogen seems to be...

0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Discover more from H2-international

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading