Research Tasks

Task 5.2 Development of a heat engine for hydrogen-rich fuel mixtures

The aim of this task is to develop the core of a domestic boiler, the so-called heat engine (comprising a burner and heat exchanger). The target is to create a design with an unprecedented flexibility in the hydrogen content of the fuel, ranging from 20% to 100%. This will be achieved with a two-step approach. In the first step, a laboratory test rig will be built. Its key components are burner deck, combustion chamber and heat exchanger. One of the major challenges in this step is to design a flashback-proof burner deck. Moreover, design rules for combustion chamber and heat exchanger will need to be taken into account in order to minimise the emission of pollutants. This will be done by experiments guided by numerical simulations. In the second step, a theoretical thermoacoustic model will be developed for the complete test rig. This will then be used to make stability predictions for different hydrogen concentrations. The model will be validated by comparing the predicted stability margins and instability frequencies with the measured values. The laboratory test-rig is a "low-fidelity" system, which will serve as a tool for further product development.

Supervisor: Mr Geert Folkers
Host: Bekaert

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