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Madison, Wisconsin—August 15, 2023—West Virginia University (WVU) has been selected for a $3 million grant by the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a hydrogen-fueled flex-fuel furnace to reduce CO2 emissions from the food and beverage industry. Current food and beverage thermal processing technologies rely on natural gas; phasing out the natural gas for an alternative fuel such as hydrogen could significantly reduce the industry’s carbon footprint.
The project is spearheaded by Hailin Li, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at WVU’s Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources. The furnace his team is developing will be able to run on hydrogen, natural gas, or any combination of the two fuels.
“Hydrogen fuel is not widely available currently,” says Li. “We could wait until it is available, but changing the technology takes time. Or, we can prepare for hydrogen to come by creating a technology that can burn both hydrogen and natural gas. We can start changing the infrastructure but allow industry to continue to run on natural gas in the near-term. Then when hydrogen is more widely available, the same device can run on hydrogen.”
Li’s research team will use Convergent Science’s CONVERGE CFD software to aid in the design of the furnace. Specifically, CONVERGE will be used to develop the burner, the fuel delivery system, and a heat exchanger called an economizer. The economizer will recover waste heat from the exhaust gas and use it to preheat the incoming air to make the furnace more efficient.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the Gas Technology Institute (GTI) have partnered with WVU on this project. ORNL will focus on developing a burner for the furnace, and GTI will conduct final proof-of-technology demonstrations. Furthermore, two Morgantown businesses will participate: Mountaintop Beverage and Neighborhood Kombuchery. Li’s team will work with these businesses to ensure the new furnace will meet their needs and help them reduce carbon emissions.
“Any industry that burns natural gas might be interested in this technology, but one of our primary goals is to help local businesses,” says Li. “Overall, we want to promote the application of hydrogen and decarbonization in the industry.”
WVU participates in Convergent Science’s academic program, which provides CONVERGE licenses, training, and support to colleges and universities for academic research.
“This kind of project is exactly why we established our CONVERGE Academic Program,” says Daniel Lee, Co-Owner and Vice President of Convergent Science. “It’s a great example of how academic researchers are pushing the bounds of innovation, and we’re thrilled to support Dr. Li’s team. The technology they’re developing could make a huge impact in reducing CO2 emissions both in their local community and the food and beverage industry at large.”
Learn more about the CONVERGE Academic Program on the Convergent Science website.
