Retrofitting Natural Gas–Fired Boiler for Hydrogen Combustion: Operational Performance and NOx Emissions

The effects of hydrogen fraction (HF: volumetric fraction of H₂ in the fuel mixture of CH₄ + H₂) from 0% to 100% by volume, on the thermal and environmental performance of a 207-MW industrial water tube boiler, are investigated numerically at a fixed excess air factor, λ = 1.15. This study aims to determine the hardware modifications required for boilers to be retrofitted for pure hydrogen operation and investigates how NOx emissions are affected by hydrogen enrichment. The results showed insignificant increases in maximum combustion temperature with increasing the HF, though the distributions of temperature profiles are distinct. In reference to the basic methane combustion, H₂ flames resulted in a positive temperature rise in the vicinity of the burner. Increasing the HF from 0% to 2% resulted in higher average thermal NOx emissions at the boiler exit section from 37 up to 1284 ppm, then it decreased to 1136 ppm at HF = 30%, and later it leveled up to 1474 ppm at HF = 100%. The spots for higher differences in NO formation compared to the reference case are shifted downstream at higher HFs. The effect of hydrogen enrichment on CO₂ and H₂O as radiation sources, as well as the volumetric absorption radiation of the furnace wall and the heat flux at furnace surfaces, has all been presented in relation to the effect of hydrogen addition on boiler performance.