Session: 40-06 Centrifugal Compressors 4

Paper Number: 78626

78626 - Hydrogen Compression - Towards a New Strategy for the Design of Hydrogen Compressors 

Hydrogen as an energy carrier could be one option towards the achievement of global sustainable development goals of carbon neutrality and fossil-free energy systems. Hydrogen production, transportation, storage, and distribution require compression of hydrogen to different pressure levels up to 1000 bar. Several types of compressors have been designed and used for hydrogen compression, the reciprocating compressor being the mostly used one. However, the capacity of reciprocating compressor restricts its use in the hydrogen transportation via pipelines, where high volume flows are required. Larger volume flows could be achieved with centrifugal compressors, but they are not yet optimized for hydrogen compression. This paper investigates how the centrifugal compressor design should be modified when hydrogen is compressed. Previous investigations indicate a need for increased tip speeds to achieve the required pressure rise. However, the resulting mechanical stresses are above the limits of materials currently used. Therefore, this paper proposes forward-swept impeller blades to reduce tip speed and increase the compressor efficiency. At first one-dimensional methods are used to design compressors with different outlet blade angles. Then, the performance maps are computed with an Euler-based through-flow approach calibrated with results from 3D-CFD calculations. The paper concludes with a case study on the re-compression of hydrogen in a pipeline network.

Presenting Author: Jonna Tiainen LUT University

Presenting Author Biography: Jonna Tiainen received the D.Sc. degree in heat transfer and fluid dynamics from the Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), Finland, in 2018. She is currently working as a Post-doctoral Researcher at the Laboratory of Fluid Dynamics, LUT University. Her research concentrates on turbomachinery. Her research interests include energy storage technologies and waste heat recovery.

Authors:

Jonna Tiainen LUT University
Teemu Turunen-Saaresti LUT University
Mikko Mäki-Iso LUT University
Sebastian Schuster University of Duisburg-Essen
Dieter Brillert University of Duisburg-Essen