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Version Guidebook 2023
Authors
Jill Mitchell, Melanie Hobson
EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guidebook 2023 1
Annex H2 Combustion EFs 2023
Contents
1 Overview .......................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Hydrogen-production in a low/decarbonised economy ......................................................... 3
1.2 NOx and PM emissions ............................................................................................................... 3
2 Gas turbines in power hydrogen ................................................................... 4
2.1 Combustion conditions for hydrogen ....................................................................................... 4
2.2 Emissions and emissions control ............................................................................................... 4
3 Internal combustion engines ........................................................................ 5
4 Heavy goods vehicles...................................................................................... 5
4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 5
4.2 Emissions and emissions control ............................................................................................... 5
5 Aircraft ............................................................................................................. 6
5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 6
5.2 Emissions and emissions control ............................................................................................... 6
6 Maritime shipping ........................................................................................... 6
7 Residential domestic boilers ......................................................................... 7
7.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 7
7.2 Emissions and emissions control ............................................................................................... 7
8 Commercial heating boilers........................................................................... 7
8.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 7
8.2 Emissions and emissions control ............................................................................................... 8
9 References ....................................................................................................... 8
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1 Overview
1.1 Hydrogen-production in a low/decarbonised economy
In an effort to combat rising greenhouse gas emissions, decarbonisation efforts aim to shift away
from fossil fuel dependence. Along with electrification, hydrogen is potential alternatives to fossil
fuels. Although hydrogen has no carbon emissions associated with it’s combustion, historical
production of hydrogen has been based on natural gas. Rather than typical production of “grey”
hydrogen, “green” hydrogen is produced from renewable energy sources and “blue” hydrogen using
natural gas with carbon capture. This “green” or “blue” hydrogen can then be used with no associated
carbon emissions and can therefore contribute to decarbonisation. Fuel cell technology allows the
chemical energy from hydrogen to be extracted at high efficiency with no NOx formation in hydrogen
fuel cells (Jeerh et al., 2021; Staffell et al., 2019).
1.2 NOx and PM emissions
Compared to natural gas, combustion of hydrogen is associated with greater NOx emissions due to
increased burn temperatures (Lewis, 2021), but there is a reduction in primary PM from hydrogen
combustion (Laursen et al., 2022; Miller et al., 2007).
Although NOx emissions may be higher from hydrogen combustion than current sources, there are
widely used aftertreatment strategies that could be applied to hydrogen combustion alternatives
(Lewis, 2021). In this short report, information is presented that could be incorporated into
international guidance, such as the EMEP/EEA Air Pollutant Emissions Inventory Guidebook for
hydrogen combustion in aviation, and domestic and commercial boilers. These source sectors have
been identified as having more limited aftertreatment options (Lewis, 2021). Other sectors could be
assumed to be similar to current natural gas use due to emissions regulations.
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2 Gas turbines in power hydrogen
2.1 Combustion conditions for hydrogen
It is generally thought that there is limited scope for the use of hydrogen as a fuel in large point
sources. But it is considered here for completeness.
Using hydrogen in a natural gas turbine engine at full power requires higher equivalence ratios (i.e.
“fuel rich” combustion conditions) than natural gas, and this results in greater NO formation
(Therkelsen et al., 2009). It was found that even at lower equivalence ratios, the NO emissions were
greater for hydrogen than for natural gas. As shown in Figure 2-1, low equivalence ratios are
associated with lower mechanical efficiency, so would be undesirable. Therefore, burner design is
likely to be very important in reducing NOx emissions, and current natural gas burners are unlikely
to be sufficient without changes that are specific to hydrogen combustion.
Figure 2-1 “The variation of mechanical efficiency, combustion temperature and NOx
emissions as a function of the equivalence ratio. The equivalence ratio is a
measure of the amount of fuel relative to the amount of air. A ratio of 1 means
that the amount of oxygen supplied in the air exactly matches the amount of
fuel available for all the fuel to be burned with no excess. ‘Fuel lean’ means there
is more oxygen available than there is fuel to burn, and ‘fuel rich’ more fuel than
oxygen to completely combust it.” (Lewis, 2021)
2.2 Emissions and emissions control
There is the potential for NOx emission control strategies to be applied to hydrogen fuelled gas
turbine combustion systems. For example, Dry Low Emission (DLE) gas turbine combustion systems
were developed to reduce NOx emissions (usually below 25 ppmv) and are widely used (Faqih et al.,
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2022). However, DLE hydrogen combustion cannot directly use DLE gas turbine combustion systems
as hydrogen has different physical properties to natural gas and similar fuels (Tekin et al., 2019).
Instead, the Micro-Mix DLE combustion chamber was developed for hydrogen using cross-flow
mixing of air and gaseous hydrogen so that combustion occurs in multiple smaller “diffusion-type”
flames. This results in low NOx emissions due to a short residence time of the reactants in the hot
flame region. Furthermore, this low NOx gas turbine combustion system can switch between
burning natural gas, natural gas/hydrogen mixtures, and 100% hydrogen.
As there are extensive aftertreatment possibilities for gas turbines in power plants (Lewis, 2021), it
is recommended that NOx emission factors for hydrogen combustion are assumed to be similar to
current values for natural gas combustion currently reported in the EMEP/EEA Guidebook.
3 Internal combustion engines
The introduction of hydrogen to the road transport vehicle fleet is broadly considered to unlikely on
a large scale, unless it is produced from hydrogen fuel cells. As with other applications, simply
replacing current fuels with hydrogen in internal combustion engines is likely to result in an increase
in NOx emissions (Guo et al., 2020) due to factors such as higher combustion temperatures. In
internal combustion engines, NOx emissions depend on the engine load and hydrogen-air ratio
(Verhelst and Wallner, 2009). Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), currently used in diesel engines,
reintroduces cooled exhaust gas into the combustion chamber to lower the combustion
temperature by decreasing oxygen content (Guo et al., 2020). There are also aftertreatment options
to significantly reduce NOx emissions (Stępień, 2021) in internal combustion engines.
No information has been obtained that reliably quantifies NOx or PM emission factors for hydrogen
combustion in internal combustion engines, but emissions will be highly dependent on emission
control technologies. So, it is recommended that NOx and PM emission factors for hydrogen
combustion are assumed to be the same as those already in the EMEP/EEA Guidebook for
compressed natural gas (CNG).
4 Heavy goods vehicles
4.1 Introduction
For the decarbonisation of transport, electric batteries in heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) are unlikely
to be used extensively in the near future, due to feasibility issues such as recharging time (Cunanan
et al., 2021). However, hydrogen fuel cells (H2FC) and hydrogen internal combustion engines (H2ICE)
may be used as decarbonisation options for HGVs.
4.2 Emissions and emissions control
With aftertreatment, the use of H2ICE in HGVs is unlikely to have greater NOx emissions than diesel
HGVs (Lewis, 2021). For example, companies with prototypes for 100% hydrogen combustion report
NOx emissions that are lower than comparable diesel combustion (Wright & Lewis, 2022). Another
pilot hydrogen combustion trial found that NOx emissions were reduced to near-zero by EGR, water
injection and aftertreatment (Atkins et al., 2021). Although there is potential to greatly reduce NOx
emissions in hydrogen internal combustion engines, it may be that legislation aims to implement
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Annex H2 Combustion EFs 2023
regulations that reduce emissions to similar levels to those of current diesel emissions (Lewis, 2021).
So, the NOx reduction potential in H2ICE is likely to depend on government policies
5 Aircraft
5.1 Introduction
Decarbonising aviation is a challenge due to the high energy content of liquid jet fuel per unit mass
and per unit volume (Mukhopadhaya and Rutherford, 2022). Hydrogen (142 MJ/kg) has low energy
density when considered on a per unit volume basis, but it has around 3 times the energy density of
kerosene (46.2 MJ/kg) when considered on a mass basis. So, it is an appealing option for the aviation
sector, although it would require storage in cryogenic tanks.
5.2 Emissions and emissions control
Aftertreatment in aircraft engines, such as selective catalytic reduction (SCR), has not been feasible
due to high mass flow rates in the engine core (Prashanth et al., 2021). This might make
aftertreatment of NOx in hydrogen combustion engines difficult, although there is on-going research
into aftertreatments that could be used in aircraft engines.
A study modelling NOx emissions from an aircraft with 160 passengers over 3000 nautical miles
found hydrogen cruise emissions an order of magnitude lower than for kerosene, but slightly higher
landing and take-off (LTO) emissions (Khan et al., 2022). However, given that this was a modelling
study, actual NOx emissions from hydrogen combustion in aircrafts may differ significantly. Water
vapour emissions were found to be over 4 times greater than for kerosene fuel, but PM levels were
negligible. This is expected to result in increased contrails, but with lower radiative forcing.
Based on the research currently available, it is recommended that the NOx scaling factors for
hydrogen relative to kerosene in turbine-powered aircraft shown in Table 5-1 are used.
Table 5-1 Suggested NOx scaling factors for hydrogen relative to kerosene in turbine-
powered aircrafts based on a modelling study by Khan et al., 2022
Hydrogen fuel NOx scaling factor
Cruise emissions 0.1
LTO Cycle emissions 1.2
6 Maritime shipping
Use of hydrogen as a maritime fuel may require some aftertreatment to reduce NOx emissions (ABS,
2021). However, an analysis of the use of hydrogen and ammonia in shipping suggests that ammonia
may be a better option than hydrogen (Inal et al., 2022). Whilst a literature review has been
undertaken for emissions arising from the use of NH3 as a maritime fuel, it has been concluded that
there is currently insufficient information to provide emission factors.
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Annex H2 Combustion EFs 2023
7 Residential domestic boilers
7.1 Introduction
Currently, there are economic and design limitations to aftertreatment in domestic boilers (Lewis,
2021) which is important when considering hydrogen as a fuel due to its association with increased
NOx emissions. This may lead to NOx emissions being highest in areas with high population densities
often home to more disadvantaged communities. For hydrogen combustion in domestic boilers,
there are uncertainties in the distribution of the temperature within the flame, the flame size, and
how long molecules remain at a temperature high enough for NOx formation (Frazer-Nash
Consultancy, 2018). Although retrofitting and designing boilers for hydrogen combustion is possible
as outlined below, the feasibility of this on a large scale is uncertain, given the current lack of
aftertreatment employed in domestic boilers.
7.2 Emissions and emissions control
The retrofit and development of two condensing natural gas boilers for hydrogen resulted in lower
NOx emissions than the natural gas equivalent while maintaining a high efficiency (Gersen et al.,
2020a). This was due to the flue gas being maintained at lower temperatures through flue gas
recirculation (FGR) than in conventional boilers. After retrofitting, one boiler had greater NOx
emissions at certain thermal loads (around 75 mg/kWh) than the current EU Ecodesign emission limit
for NOx emissions from gaseous fuel boilers (56 mg/kWh)1. However, when applying strategies such
as FGR and optimising the combustion air flow pattern, NOx emissions as low as 5 mg/kWh at lower
thermal loads were recorded. The difference between the maximum and minimum value for a
certain thermal load was around a factor of 3 for a given thermal load.
The second boiler had lower NOx emissions than the EU limit for small gaseous boilers. This
retrofitted boiler was also tested with methane, and hydrogen was found to give NOx values 3 to 7
times lower than for methane. The hydrogen domestic boilers used in the study were based on
condensing boilers, which generally have better NOx performance than conventional boilers due to
lower combustion temperatures (Bălănescu and Homutescu, 2018).
It is recommended that NOx emission factors for hydrogen domestic boilers used in emission
inventories are a factor of 3 times higher than the current emission factors for natural gas in the
EMEP/EEA Guidebook. This is based on the increase found before aftertreatment strategies are
implemented by Gersen et al., 2020a, so it is important that any reporting of this new emission
factors clearly indicates that it represents an emission factor without aftertreatment.
This first estimate should be revised following any new research, and if the widespread use of
aftertreatment and NOx reducing strategies is deemed viable.
8 Commercial heating boilers
8.1 Introduction
Compared with domestic boilers, aftertreatment is more feasible in commercial heating boilers
(Lewis, 2021). Although the use of hydrogen as a fuel may result in more NOx production than other
fuels such as natural gas, this can potentially be mitigated with aftertreatment technologies.
1 Commission Regulation (EU) No 813/2013, 2013
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8.2 Emissions and emissions control
A study looking at the NOx emissions from burning natural gas, natural gas/hydrogen mixtures and
pure hydrogen in a 475kW industrial boiler found that the greater NOx emissions associated with
hydrogen could be reduced significantly with FGR (Gersen et al., 2020b). For pure hydrogen, the NOx
emissions were a factor of three greater than natural gas in the same conditions but were reduced
by more than a factor of 10 when using FGR.
It is recommended that the NOx emission factor for hydrogen combustion is assumed to be the
same as that for gaseous fuels reported in the EMEP/EEA Guidebook, as aftertreatment strategies
are available for commercial heating boilers. However, the upper confidence interval could be
increased by a factor of 3 (as shown in Table 8-1 for medium size boilers) to represent the greater
potential for NOx emissions from hydrogen combustion. It is recommended that the lower
confidence interval is kept the same, as although NOx reductions (compared to natural gas) have
been observed using FGR, the wider use of these strategies has yet to be assessed for hydrogen.
Similar to domestic boilers, this should be reviewed in future years to capture results from relevant
research studies.
Table 8-1 NOx emission values and 95% confidence interval for gaseous fuels in medium
(>50 kWth to <=1 MWth) boilers (EMEP/EEA Guidebook. Section 1.A.4 (Small
combustion), Table 3.26), and proposed changes for hydrogen.
NOx value 95% confidence interval
Lower Upper
Gaseous fuels 73 g/GJ 44 g/GJ 103 g/GJ
Hydrogen 73 g/GJ 44 g/GJ 309 g/GJ
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Annex H2 Combustion EFs 2023
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