Catalytic combustion of hydrogen for heat production

Currently, there are very few commercial devices that utilize hydrogen combustion for the production of heat, due mainly to the limited availability of hydrogen fuel. The emergence of hydrogen as an energy carrier will modify this situation as the accompanying environmental legislation will clearly favor clean technologies. Hydrogen catalytic combustion is one of these technologies. Its future success in the marketplace will require improvements in burner cost and catalyst performance. This review describes several trial applications of hydrogen catalytic combustion for the residential, commercial, and industrial gas markets. The topic is extended to include “green” hydrogen/natural gas blends, as their distribution is one of the options of the Power to Gas concept demonstrated in Europe. Hydrogen conversion to electricity by fuel cells is developing as an alternative to hydrogen combustion in a few large markets, such as CHP and vehicles. However, hydrogen combustion, including its catalytic combustion, should remain more practical and economical for other applications.