The goal is to enable combustion of undiluted hydrogen-rich syngas with low NOx emissions and also allowing for high fuel flexibility. The challenge is to operate a stable and controllable GT on hydrogen-rich syngas with emissions and processes similar to current state-ofthe- art natural GT engines. The H2-IGCC project aims to tackle this challenge as well as fuel flexibility, by enabling the burning of back-up fuels, such as natural gas, without adversely affecting the reliability and availability.

The technical challenges being addressed by the H2-IGCC project are divided into 4 Subprojects (SP): Combustion (SP1), Materials (SP2), Turbomachinery (SP3) and System Analysis (SP4). In particular, SP2 deals with improved materials systems with advanced coatings able to protect hot path components base materials against different temperatures and compositions of exhaust gases. Cost-effective materials and coatings technologies will be developed to overcome the component lifelimiting problems of overheating and of hot corrosion resulting from the higher temperatures and residual contaminants in the syngas, including validation of materials performance data, life prediction and monitoring methods. Simulation tools for estimating performance and lifetime of materials systems will also be enhanced to suit the new operating environments.