Dr Jorg Leicher
Teamleader
Gas- und Wärme-Institut Essen

Abstract

HyGlass - Hydrogen utilization as a decarbonization measure for the glass industry

Decarbonization is a major challenge for the glass industry. Different options are being discussed, among them full electrification or the use of hydrogen to partially or even completely substitute natural gas. In a publicly funded research project GWI and BV Glas investigate the impact of hydrogen on combustion processes, using semi-industrial combustion experiments and CFD simulations to assess the impact of natural gas / hydrogen blends or pure hydrogen on various combustion processes in the glass manufacturing process. Also, the impact on glass quality is analyzed. This presentation will give an overview on the project’s results and findings so far.

Biography

Jörg Leicher (born 1973 in Essen, Germany) studied Mechanical Engineering at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, and was awarded a PhD (Dr.-Ing.) in 2006. After working as a Post-Doc at the Institut Francais du Pétrole – Energies Nouvelles (IFP) in Lyon, France, and a brief stint at ANSYS in Munich, Germany, he joined the German gas research institute GWI (Gas- und Wärme-Institut Essen e.V.) in 2009 where he leads the institute’s CFD group.

The focus of his work there is on the modeling of industrial combustion processes and the impact of natural gas quality on end-users in the industrial and power generation sectors, as well as the use of alternative fuels such as biogases, process gases or hydrogen. He is the author of numerous articles on these topics and active in a number of national and international organizations (e. g. IFRF, IGU, Marcogaz, DVGW).