IHI Photographs Ammonia Flames from Burner inside Thermal Power Boiler as Part of Efforts to Accelerate Development through Dedicated Firing Tests in Large Furnace with Expanded Ammonia Combustion Test Capacity
IHI announces today that it has employed a special camera and filter to photograph ammonia flames inside furnaces to assess them, making visual checks possible for the first time. This breakthrough resulted from collaboration at the IHI X Tohoku University Co-Creation Research Center of Ammonia Value Chain for Carbon Neutrality. It is vital to understand a flame’s shape and behavior to accelerate and advance the development of ammonia combustion technology. IHI confirmed this at a large combustion test facility that it expanded when deploying a new ammonia supply facility.
IHI is developing technologies and collaborating with partners in Japan and abroad in driving to swiftly build a value chain to produce, ship, store, and use ammonia and become carbon neutral. We are working on a technology to achieve more than 50% ammonia firing in boilers for thermal power generation and to demonstrate it at commercial plants. We are also developing dedicated combustion burners to achieve 100% ammonia single firing.
In developing an ammonia burner, IHI achieved combustion at a small test facility while controlling hazardous substance emissions. In September 2022, it built an ammonia supply facility whose capacity is 10 times greater than that of conventional facilities. The goal was to undertake a detailed evaluation with a furnace that is large enough for a commercial power plant. Testing at a large combustion facility began in November that year.
Amassing more accurate information from combustion tests on regular equipment is important to drive combustion technology advances. Capturing flame images enables IHI to conduct detailed combustion checks and verify the validity of measurement results. The company will endeavor to develop and commercially apply more reliable burners.
IHI will step up ammonia combustion technology development to contribute to the swift commercialization of ammonia and other carbon-neutral fuels and help shrink the environmental footprints of energy sources, thus helping to materialize a carbon-neutral economy by 2050.
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Facility specifications
Tank capacity : 20 metric tons
Vaporizer capacity : 1.2 metric tons per hour x 2 units (steam type)
Supply pressure : 0.3～0.5MPa
