GE, Shell to work on LNG decarbonisation pathway

GE Gas Power and Shell Global Solutions have signed a development agreement to pursue potential pathways aiming to reduce the carbon intensity of Shell’s LNG supply projects around the world, GE Gas Power said on November 7.

GE Gas Power said that one of the possible paths to decarbonise LNG production is to use hydrogen as a low carbon fuel in the engines in the power generation and mechanical drive gas turbines.

“Together, we’re confident our combined strengths of Shell, GE, and Baker Hughes, who is exclusive distributor of certain heavy duty gas turbines and services in the oil and gas segment, can accelerate the deployment of pragmatic and impactful solutions towards high-hydrogen capabilities in these gas turbines fleets resulting in a significant reduction of carbon emissions and water utilisation globally,” said John Intile, vice president, engineering at GE Gas Power.

GE's B&E class heavy-duty gas turbines can already operate today on 100% hydrogen emitting up to 25ppm NOx with the use of water in diffusion combustors. As part of this development agreement, GE is targeting gas turbine technology with the capability to operate on 100% hydrogen without the use of water while still maintaining NOx emissions.

The new Dry Low NOx (DLN) combustor technology is intended to become the backbone of new retrofittable system solutions for low-carbon operation of the gas turbine while providing the reliability and availability required for LNG facilities. Dry operation also represents significant savings in water use and conservation: up 32,000 liters of water per hour are saved using DLN systems versus comparable alternatives.

DLN combustors are more efficient and do not use water as a diluent, thus offering LNG operators the ability to lower carbon and conserve water in their operations, GE Gas Power said.