BFRC Emissions Working Group Meeting 26th May '22
Should we prioritise CO2 emissions over all other species?
Should we prioritise CO2 emissions over all other species – what does it mean for overall environmental optimisation?
British Flame Task-force meeting
Identification of priority research and stakeholder engagement activities for BFRC
University of Nottingham – Energy Technologies Building (Room B27) – Jubilee Campus
Thursday 26th May 10:30-14:30
As we move into the future, net-zero, world we recognise that the new fuels that we burn will pose us new problems. Combustion engineers and scientists have always adapted to meet the latest environmental constraints and will continue to do so.
To meet net-zero targets for the UK, we are likely to see a major uptake in non-carbonaceous fuels, in particular
• H2
• NH3
These are the subject of broad research as they offer the ability to move away from a carbon-based cycle and enable existing systems to be repowered with fuels derived from purely renewable power such as solar or wind.
For these fuels to be successful, they must be used in a way that is environmentally acceptable
Substantial work is already underway to explore the environmental performance of these systems in many applications, from gas turbines, fired heaters and other large-scale industrial applications to internal combustion engines for transport or power generation and domestic use in cookers and central heating boilers.
Clearly, in the absence of carbon, some traditional emissions such as CO2, CO, soot and particulates cease to be relevant. However, NOx, in particular, and unburned fuel continue to be issues.
British Flame is keen to understand what research or stakeholder engagement we should be facilitating in this area. We are holding a meeting of our members and other interested parties to explore themes that are of interest. The meeting will be held at the University of Nottingham on Thursday 26th May. Everyone with an interest in the relevant topics is welcome to join the meeting and to contribute to the debate.
Topics which we will consider include
• What do we know about emission performance of H2 and NH3 in different combustion configurations?
Given that it is not possible to match all the parameters in a burner, do we know if emissions increase or decrease during combustion with a new fuel if we match
o Velocities
o Thermal input
o Other burner parameters
• What (generic) burner modifications are likely to be required for safety/ignition/stability to consider the nature of the new fuels and how will these likely impact on emissions performance?
• What regulations/legislation governs emissions in different sectors and is there a case to be made to CO2 benefits associated with the use of these fuels to allow other emissions limits to be relaxed?
• Given the nature of the fuels, are the existing regulations fit for purpose
What is the implications for ‘new’ fuels if regulations are stated in
• ppm
• mg/Nm3
• At a specific O2 level
• Wet/dry
• Thermal basis
• Other
• Given that the new fuels are intrinsically chemicals capable of reducing NOx, should we be considering non-combustion methods for NOx control (e.g. selective catalytic reduction)?
• What other re-optimisations can we expect in the coming years? Does the nature of these fuels allow us options to re-optimise the whole combustion process more generally, by finding new ways to make optimise compromises between efficiency, heat transfer and emissions?
On the day there will be a number of short presentations to provoke thoughts on these issues.
The main purpose of the meeting is, however, to garner as many views as possible from the attendees to find areas where we have joint areas of interest and, through discussion, identify areas where we can work together either to highlight technical issues which require further research or regulatory issues where we have concerns or where clarification would be useful. Therefore, please come prepared to engage in discussion and to air your own knowledge or areas of uncertainty. We are happy to consider others not mentioned here.
1. What we know already
2. The ‘known unknowns’
3. What might surprise us?
4. What should we be worried about?
After the event, we will identify areas of commonality and establish one or more interest groups within British Flame to take these forward.
Please confirm your attendance to
Dr Robin Irons (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
BFRC Chair