Hanwha Impact tests record-setting hydrogen gas turbine

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Hanwha Impact tests record-setting hydrogen gas turbine

Published: 21 Jun. 2023, 18:04

Hanwha Impact's hydrogen gas turbine plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong on Wednesday. The company announced that day that it completed a demonstration test of the 80-megawatt turbine with the highest-ever hydrogen blend rate of 59.5 percent by volume. [SHIN HA-NEE]

SEOSAN, South Chungcheong — A Korean company developed an 80-megawatt hydrogen gas turbine that runs on a 59.5 percent hydrogen blend, a record rate.

Hanwha Impact said on Wednesday that it completed a trial run of a hydrogen gas turbine demonstrator co-fired on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen in April. The 80-megawatt turbine burnt a blended fuel that contains 59.5 percent hydrogen content by volume, outperforming the initial target level of 50 percent.

A hydrogen blend rate of 59.5 percent is the highest ever for a commercially operable gas turbine, according to Hanwha Impact.

“If Korea’s LNG plants can use 50-percent hydrogen content, it will cut gas consumption by more than 20 percent,” said Lee Ok-heon, director-general for the Hydrogen Economy Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, during a demonstration ceremony on Wednesday.

“There are concerns that the energy transition may hamper the local economy, but we expect the hydrogen and ammonia co-firing technology will turn Korea into a hub for carbon neutrality,” said Lee.

The demonstration ceremony, hosted by Hanwha Impact, was held at its Daesan plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong. Attendees included Hanwha Impact CEO Kim Hee-cheul, Hanwha Corporation Co-CEO Kim Seung-mo, and government officials such as Seosan Mayor Lee Wan-seob.

Hanwha Impact, an energy and investment company, held a demonstration ceremony for the successful completion of a test run of its 80-megawatt hydrogen gas turbine on Wednesday at its Daesan plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong. [HANWHA IMPACT]

When journalists visited the Daesan plant where the hydrogen gas turbine was up and running, three different types of fuels were being funneled into the turbine: LNG, by-product hydrogen coming from Hanwha TotalEnergies and 100-percent hydrogen gas stocked inside cylindrical tanks. LNG and hydrogen, delivered through pipelines, were blended together at a mixing station right beside the turbine.

The hydrogen blend rate, which fluctuated constantly on an electric monitor, hovered at around 50 percent level.

Co-firing hydrogen or ammonia in gas turbines is aimed at cutting carbon emissions during power generation, with the ultimate goal of wholly replacing fossil fuels such as LNG with hydrogen. Because existing gas turbines can be retrofitted for hydrogen co-firing and therefore extend their lifespan, the technology is considered one of the more cost-effective and realistic carbon emission reduction measures.

For the latest project, Hanwha Impact retrofitted an old LNG turbine relocated from a power plant run by Korea Western Power in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi.

Compared to 100-percent LNG turbines, Hanwha Impact’s latest hydrogen gas turbine reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 22 percent and yielded nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions as low as 6 parts per million (ppm). NOx emissions, which are air pollutants, from gas turbines are capped at 20 ppm in Korea.

While overseas research projects have achieved higher hydrogen capacities for smaller gas turbines, it is the first time for a mid- to large-size gas turbine to reach a nearly 60 percent hydrogen blend rate, claims Hanwha Impact. Previously, the company enabled a 150-megawatt gas turbine at a power plant in New Jersey to run on a 40 percent hydrogen blend.

If all of the LNG turbines currently installed in Korea, which generated 66 million tons of carbon emissions in 2021, are modified for 50 percent hydrogen co-firing, emissions would fall by more than 16 million tons a year.

As Hanwha also aims for a 100 percent hydrogen capability, the company plans to further advance its technologies at the Daesan plant. It is also taking part in a government-backed project to develop a 150-megawatt hydrogen gas turbine.

Under the nationally determined contribution plan, Korea aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 40 percent to 436.6 million tons by 2030 from the country’s peak of 727.6 million tons in 2018.

Power generation accounted for 37 percent of total CO2 emissions in 2018. The government plans to cut power generation-produced carbon emissions by 45.9 percent by 2030.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]