ICHAruS · Investigation and Control of Hydrogen flames Across the Scales
Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2023-10-01 → 2027-09-30
- EU contribution
- €2,681,280
- Participants
- 13
- Scheme
- HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-DN
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Investigation and Control of Hydrogen flames Across the Scales
This project develops physics-based control concepts for hydrogen combustion using external electric and magnetic fields and non-thermal plasma. Experiments and simulations indicate that electromagnetic actuation can promote ignition, stabilize lean flames, and mitigate thermoacoustics through ionic wind, plasma-generated radicals, and localized energy deposition, but industrial adoption is limited by the lack of validated multi-scale predictive tools. The project builds an integrated multi-scale framework linking plasma physics to continuum combustion modelling by combining reactive molecular dynamics, 0D/1D plasma–combustion solvers, turbulence-resolving DNS, and targeted experiments. Atomistic studies quantify field effects on kinetics and transport and support physically consistent charge modelling. Plasma-assisted solvers capture electron-driven chemistry and energy transfer and provide CFD-ready reduced source terms, while DNS and experiments deliver high-fidelity datasets and measurements of flame response and thermoacoustic behaviour under static and time-modulated fields. Expected impacts include more reliable ignition and lean-flame stabilization, improved thermoacoustic control, and higher flexibility and efficiency of hydrogen combustors, supported by validated tools, open modelling frameworks, and reference datasets that accelerate industrial innovation and Europe’s clean-energy goals.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
ICHAruS is a Doctoral Network aimed to train early-stage researchers, able to face current and future challenges in the field of innovative, edge-cutting technologies based on electro-magnetic assist to achieve full control of the hydrogen flames. ICHAruS has been built to provide doctoral training in a collaborative partnership between academic and industry partners who are major European gas turbine manufacturers. The aim of this partnership is thus to understand the physical processes that govern the interaction between hydrogen combustion and electro-magnetic fields at all flow scales to achieve such control and identify the key parameters that would allow for the design of an innovative, ultra-low NOx and flashback-proof combustion device. The behavior of hydrogen flames under plasma discharge and electromagnetic conditioning offer the opportunity to strongly accelerate the path towards zero-carbon energy and transport sectors. Three specific research objectives will be pursued: 1) Investigation and modelling of electromagnetic field effects on the species transport and chemical kinetics to unveil the effect of external electromagnetic fields on the reaction chemistry of hydrogen in both pure oxygen and air, and also determine any effects on the formation of pollutants. The effect of differential diffusion on the flame structure as opposed to electromagnetic drift will be also investigated. 2) Develop turbulence combustion models for low- and high-energy electromagnetic assisted combustion. The competing effects between electromagnetic drift and turbulence transport will be investigated and sub-grid scale closures for large-eddy simulations that consider the effect of electromagnetic fields and plasma will be developed. 3) Experimental and numerical investigation of innovative electromagnetic-assisted control technologies for the stabilisation of flames of practical interest. Both single swirl flames and annular configurations will be investigated
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITA DEL SALENTO · LecceCoordinatorItaly
- CENTRE EUROPEEN DE RECHERCHE ET DEFORMATION AVANCEE EN CALCUL SCIENTIFIQUE · TOULOUSE CEDEXFrance
- DEUTSCHES ZENTRUM FUR LUFT - UND RAUMFAHRT EV · KOLNGermany
- IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE · LondonUnited Kingdom
- INSTITUT NATIONAL POLYTECHNIQUE DE TOULOUSE · Toulouse Cedex 4France
- NUOVO PIGNONE SRL · FirenzeItaly
- SAFRAN SA · ParisFrance
- TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT BERLIN · BerlinGermany
- TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFT · DelftNetherlands
- THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY · University ParkUnited States
- THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY · SydneyAustralia
- UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZE · FlorenceItaly
- UNIVERSITY OF STUTTGART · StuttgartGermany
Links
- View on CORDIS
- DOI: 10.3030/101120321
- https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/documents/downloadPublic?documentIds=080166e5052542ac&appId=PPGMS
Data: CORDIS, © European Union