Student Energy Research Spotlight: Implementation of a Microturbine in a Hydrogen Energy Storage and Generation System

By ENS Brianna Kaufmann, USN

The energy needs of the Navy and the Department of Defense demand renewability, reliability, and resilience. Diverse means of energy production, including hydrogen gas combustion, support these requirements. The overarching goal of our previous and current research at the Turbopropulsion Laboratory is to develop a system that produces and stores hydrogen and then combusts the hydrogen in a commercial microturbine to produce electricity. My research focuses on fueling the microturbine with hydrogen. Future research will produce a complete system that uses renewable resources, reliably produces electricity to meet demand, and demonstrates fuel resiliency.

Hydrogen gas combusts in air to produce heat in the same manner as the combustion of gaseous hydrocarbons such as methane (the primary component of natural gas) and propane. However, hydrogen produces more energy per unit mass and produces no carbon emissions. Previous research has developed a renewable method of producing hydrogen using electrolysis. The renewable and reliable production method enables the development of energy resilience with respect to hydrogen-based systems.

The implementation of a commercial microturbine enables the use of a renewable resource in a reliable and resilient system. A system component with the capability to produce energy from hydrogen (in addition to methane and propane) indicates resilience in fuel choices. If the primary fuel is unavailable, secondary fuels fulfill the demand for energy. The challenge: fuel properties differ. I use fluid models to predict some of the challenges associated with hydrogen in addition to experiments with the microturbine. I will recommend modifications and improvements as required to integrate the microturbine into the hydrogen-based system. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ENS Brianna Kaufmann is a student of Undersea Warfare and Mechanical Engineering. She graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a degree in Nuclear Engineering in 2018. Upon her graduation from the Naval Postgraduate School, she will report to Naval Nuclear Power Training Command in Charleston, SC to begin Submarine Warfare Officer training.

Contact the MAE research team at https://www.nps.edu/web/mae/ for more information about this research.