Monday 9 March 2020

Hydrogen As A Fuel Could Increase NOx levels

I vaguely remember years ago when I worked for the CEGB some co-researchers were looking into the design of burners that minimised the production of nitrogen oxides. If I remember rightly there was particular concern that the corner-fired boilers at Aberthaw Power Station would be difficult to manage.

Be that as it may. Today, the New Scientist reports (I think this will be behind a pay-wall) that an unpublished study by Defra posits that use of hydrogen for space heating (as a means of lowering CO2 emissions) could have the effect of raising NOx production.

The report also cites a number of other potential unintended consequences of moving to low CO2 technologies. However, my quick reading of the NS summary suggests to me that the possible problems are manageable, maybe won't occur anyway, and are a price worth paying for combating climate change.

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