Ammonia Gas Turbine Combustor

This innovation program proposes to develop and commercialize combustor technology to burn ammonia in gas turbine engines. This will enable the usage of ammonia as indirect hydrogen carrier for the storage and transportation of clean carbon-neutral energy. Ammonia will be used as high value synthetic fuel, produced from fossil fuels or renewable sources. Phase I demonstrated ammonia's viability for power generation. CPS developed and validated a technical concept for the combustor technology through numerical simulations and successful laboratory-scale tests. These tests confirmed the design's capability to stabilize ammonia flames across various atmospheric conditions, prompting advancement to the next development phase. In Phase II, the project team further solidified ammonia's potential for power generation. Rigorous validation processes, including numerical simulations and laboratory-scale tests, established a robust technical concept for combustor technology. These tests demonstrated the effectiveness of our design in achieving complete fuel burnout and minimizing nitrogen oxides emissions, even across varying operating conditions. Building upon these results, Phase IIB aims to optimize the gas turbine combustor technology. CPS will build and assemble a compatible prototype for integration with the industrial engine identified in Phase I. This will be done utilizing advanced numerical tools and lab-scale experiments that have been validated during the Phase I and Phase II experimental measurements. Comprehensive testing across operational conditions will validate the innovative ammonia combustion systemĺs performance within the selected gas turbine. Upon success, we'll patent the technology, marking a significant milestone. Intellectual property generated in phase II constitutes the first commercial product from this innovation program. Eventually, in a subsequent phase, a tangible ammonia gas turbine combustor retrofit kit can be developed and commercialized to retrofit existing gas turbine units. The ammonia combustor innovation can provide multiple benefits to the power industry. Large-scale renewable utilities can use ammonia as affordable energy storage and transportation medium to fulfill the needs of decoupling energy production and consumption, stabilize electrical grids, and increase profitability by optimizing power delivery. Second, distributed renewable energy producers, consumers and prosumers can profit from ammonia networks to set-up efficient seasonal energy storages that can drastically improve their energy self-sufficiency and economic performance. Last, large scale coal producers can upgrade their fuel to ammonia via gasification. The new ammonia combustor technology for gas turbines will allow a more decentralized and flexible power production with the potential of drastically reducing CO2 emissions.