DNV engineered and realized a hydrogen burning torch for “MissionH2”, a consortium supporting the Dutch Olympic athletes on their way to Tokyo. Recently the hydrogen promotion campaign started in which DNV’s hydrogen torch has a prominent role.
The Olympic Games in Tokyo are strongly linked with hydrogen. With the whole world watching the Games, Japan knows that this is a great opportunity to focus on hydrogen as a viable source of clean fuel that can be stored, transported and used for heating purposes. This focus on hydrogen was a trigger for a Dutch consortium of seven companies to join forces in promoting the Netherlands as a hydrogen country. Together with the ambassadors of TeamNL, awareness is being generated for hydrogen as a pillar under the climate ambitions of the Netherlands. In such an Olympic hydrogen promotional campaign, the opportunity to design a hydrogen fuelled torch could not be missed. DNV was therefore approached by the consortium to deliver a 100% hydrogen fuelled torch. The design and engineering of the torch had a few challenges: burning duration, portability, safety and visibility of the flame.
Designing the hydrogen torch
The project started with the design of the torch. Designing a replica of the Japanese torch, which has the shape of cherry blossom, was not possible because this is a protected design. The Dutch torch now has the shape of a tulip, an iconic symbol for the Netherlands. The hardest challenge was creating a 100% hydrogen fuelled torch with sufficient burning time. DNV designed a torch that can be placed on a pedestal containing a compressed hydrogen cylinder with a volume of 10 litres, allowing for continuously burning for approximately 16 hours.
Since a hydrogen flame is almost invisible during daylight hours, the last challenge for DNV was to make the flame visible. Out of several options, DNV mounted a gauze containing sodium in the burner surface which gives the flame a visible yellow colour. Recently, in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics, MissionH2 started its promotional campaign. On social media Olympic athletes and key personnel from the consortium partners presented their support for hydrogen in short videos with a prominent role for DNV's hydrogen torch.
Follow the torch on “Missie H2”.