Hydrogen fueled gas turbines

Yes. Our turbines have nearly 30 years of experience operating on a variety of fuels that contain hydrogen, totaling over 4 million operating hours with hydrogen concentrations ranging from 5% to 95% (by volume).  This includes synthesis gas (syngas), a variety of steel mill gases (i.e. coke oven gas and blast furnace gas), and refinery off-gases.  This experience has helped GE become one of the world leaders in the application of fuels containing hydrogen in gas turbines.

The use of hydrogen as a gas turbine fuel has been demonstrated commercially, but there are differences between natural gas and hydrogen that must be taken into account to properly and safely use hydrogen in a gas turbine.  In addition to differences in the combustion properties of these fuels, the impact to all gas turbine systems as well as the overall balance of plant, must be considered. In a power plant where one or more gas turbine is using hydrogen, changes may be needed to the fuel accessories, bottoming cycle components, and plant safety systems. GE’s broad field experience enables our engineers to understand the impact of using hydrogen as a gas turbine fuel.

As advanced gas turbines are inherently fuel-flexible, they can be configured to operate on hydrogen as a new unit, or upgraded to operate on hydrogen even after extended service on traditional fuels, i.e. natural gas. The scope of the required modifications depends on the initial configuration of the gas turbine and the overall balance of plant, as well as the desired hydrogen concentration in the fuel.