Boilers have a future: decarbonization, technical progress and a new hydrogen vector

On this occasion, Jean-Charles Colas-Roy, President of Coénove invited Dominique Goffe, Project Director – Thermal systems expert of Naldeo and Benoît Garrigues, Director of Vaillant France to come and testify about their innovative solutions.

Ch0c, the first “decarbonizing” boiler

Naldeo Group, a consulting and engineering design office specializing in the challenges of ecological, energy and water transition, has launched, with a consortium of 16 companies, the “Ch0C” boiler, the first “low carbon boiler”.

The Ch0C is primarily a boiler intended for manufacturers seeking to reduce their carbon emissions. Its technology aims to replace the traditional oxidant (air) with oxygen and thus makes it possible to concentrate the CO2 in the combustion fumes to make it very easy to capture.

Marketable from 2025, Ch0C will reduce carbon emissions by more than 90% (scope 1) from industrial boiler rooms and the tertiary sector. It will position itself as a relevant solution making it possible to obtain a very concentrated CO2, thus offering opportunities for the recovery of this CO2, in particular for the agro-food industries that consume carbon, the production of e-fuels and carbon molecules. This boiler will also be able to use raw biogas as fuel and thus supply totally carbon-free heat to methanisation sites.

For Dominique Goffe, Project Director at Naldeo: “The future Ch0C boiler will offer manufacturers and operators of boiler rooms a high-performance solution for producing carbon-free heat in a wide power range, from 1 to 30 MW. It will fit in particularly well in the vicinity of future hydrogen production sites by electrolysis, where the oxygen necessary for its operation can be recovered as a by-product of electrolysis. The use of biomethane or raw biogas as fuel will also make it possible to constitute a net carbon sink, thanks to the recovery of CO2 downstream of combustion. »

Hydrogen heating, a virtuous energy vector

A leading family business in thermal comfort on the European gas and heat pump market, Vaillant is currently working on one of the low-carbon solutions for the residential habitat of tomorrow: the combustion of hydrogen for boilers.

In 2022, the group's R&D teams completed the first phase of development of a 100% hydrogen product, designed using boilers from the current ecoTEC plus ioniDETECT range - which are already 20% hydrogen certified. Currently, the R&D teams are beginning the deployment of demonstrators in Europe. Vaillant will thus offer kitable or native 100% hydrogen boilers in order to respond to the gradual deployment of the green hydrogen offer on French and European territory.

The German group is planning a commercial deployment of the 100% hydrogen offer in certain cities in 2030 for a massification of uses targeted in Europe in 2035.

For Benoît Garrigues, Vaillant Director: “How can we succeed in producing a clean flame in order to take a further step towards decarbonizing combustion? We got there with green hydrogen and the Vaillant boiler! The combustion of molecular hydrogen by our boilers no longer emits any CO2. The N0x emission is also lower compared to today's THPE boilers, while maintaining maximum efficiency and safety of operation. Beyond this technological innovation, we are going to offer a 100% hydrogen Vaillant boiler designed to be easily understood by today's gas industry with its current gas skills and qualifications. We will thus ensure business continuity with our installation and maintenance professionals, who have trusted us since 1874.”

For Jean-Charles Colas-Roy, Chairman of Coénove: "At a time when public authorities are considering the gradual elimination of gas boilers, even as gas is becoming greener and will eventually be 100% renewable and produced in France, Coénove wishes to promote the research of companies in the sector to innovate and propose concrete solutions, ever more low-carbon, both for housing and for industry. It is essential to support these companies that are able to develop and deploy innovative solutions in the short term that meet the challenges of the energy transition. »