Within the framework of the National Laboratory for Renewable Energy (NLRE), Dr. Attila Imre, Head of the Department of Energy Engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, shares his insights.
The project provided the research team with the opportunity to build and measure hydrogen systems on experimental combustion equipment, engines, and a micro gas turbine. It also tested fuel cells up to 5 kW and examined conventional gas appliances. The group conducted research in the field of Power-to-Fuel, a technology that converts surplus renewable electricity into chemical energy in the form of synthetic fuels.
The research group’s results were presented at international conferences and published in high-ranking scientific journals, while the acquired knowledge was integrated into education. They are working on joint developments with the HUN-REN Centre for Natural Sciences and has also established several industrial and international collaborations in the field of hydrogen technology.
Main research results and publications:
- Numerical simulation of ammonia/methane combustion – Combustion and Flame (2024): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.combustflame.2023.113207
- Development of an industrial gas burner for hydrogen-rich pyrolysis gas – Results in Engineering (2025): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2025.104388
- Efficiency improvement of power-to-methane technology – Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (2024): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2024.114301
- Domestic possibilities for establishing a locally produced hydrogen road-fuel network – International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2025): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.152084
- Effect of hydrogen blending on natural-gas-fired household heating appliances – International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2025): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.11.377
Within the project, the research team launched a hydrogen-focused course linked to the energy engineering programme, and a specialised postgraduate training in hydrogen energetics also began, supporting the education of the next generation in the green transition.
Shape of the flame in a gas heater; left: natural gas, right: methane/hydrogen mixture (77 V/V% H2 23 V/V% CH4). The shape and size of the flame (as well as the flame temperature and heating value) change depending on the hydrogen content.
