A Fully Hydrogen-powered Turbine
Doosan Enerbility announced on Nov. 14 that it aims to develop a 380MW fully hydrogen-powered turbine by 2027. The company intends to develop a turbine driven purely by hydrogen.
Doosan Enerbility also plans to develop a combustor for the hydrogen turbine by 2026. The combustor is a core part of the turbine and is a device in which hydrogen burns as a fuel.
To this end, Doosan Enerbility is currently carrying out a national project to develop a 50 percent hydrogen co-firing eco-friendly combustor for a 300MW class hydrogen turbine with the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials. This is a stage in which hydrogen and liquefied natural gas (LNG) are mixed 50 percent each. They will run a test on it next year. Previously, Doosan Enerbility succeeded in a co-firing test with hydrogen taking up 30 percent of the fuel in August.
The co-firing turbine with hydrogen occupying 30 percent of the fuel cut carbon dioxide emissions by 10.4 percent compared to LNG-fired power generation. When hydrogen takes up 50 percent of the fuel, carbon dioxide emissions fall by 21.4 percent. No carbon emissions come from a turbine that is powered purely by hydrogen.
However, top-level technology is required to develop a hydrogen turbine. Compared to LNG, hydrogen has a very high combustion speed and a high flame temperature, so it is necessary to develop a technology to make a turbine that can withstand it.
According to data from the Yano Economic Research Institute in Japan, the hydrogen turbine market is expected to reach 40 trillion won in 2030. Due to hydrogen turbines’ strong marketability, global turbine makers such as GE and Siemens have started developing hydrogen turbines for commercialization around 2030.