Resources

In this Sensus whitepaper we will address the safety risks of a hydrogen blended natural gas, the necessary actions to reduce these safety risks and the process in which devices and equipment are considered acceptable for use in hydrogen environments. In this whitepaper we will explore:

• The engineering challenges associated with safely transporting a hydrogen blended natural gas
• How can municipalities, utilities and other stakeholders determine what blend of hydrogen their pipelines are able to safely handle
• Solutions for leak detection and more

Due to regulations of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, the KIWA group developed a report to explain how the United Kingdom’s efforts to meet international regulations will influence “gas-fired equipment”. The report explains the following about utilizing hydrogen to supply heat and the effects of hydrogen usage on domestic and larger scale settings:

• Cost and timeframe estimate of appliances
• Control, use, and design
• Necessary updates to safety standards and training
• Barriers for development and how to overcome them

The Canadian Standards Association conducted testing to determine performance of up to 15% hydrogen-natural gas blends on appliances, specifically space and water heaters. Overall, the study showed that hydrogen blends do not affect appliances of up to 15% and ultimately produce lower carbon emissions. Further testing needs to be conducted to determine how higher hydrogen blends will affect these findings.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy with the United Kingdom government utilized Frazer-Nash Consultancy to investigate the feasibility of developing appliances to be used with 100% hydrogen. From this research, Frazer-Nash explains the different components within the appliances that will need to be updated, like the burner design, for appliances to reach this capability. Lastly, Frazer-Nash outlines the three options for moving towards hydrogen appliances:

• New appliances, only for hydrogen
• New appliances, for hydrogen and natural gas
• Current appliances with updated components

As a part of investigating hydrogen blend effects on appliances, the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance partnered with Cadeo Group to provide next steps on achieving appliance readiness for hydrogen blends. The report concludes that appliances show no impact with hydrogen blends of up to 20%, but further outlines the need for standardized testing methods in the United States for hydrogen blends and appliances. Furthermore, the report provides recommendations for lowering carbon emissions in the gas industry: “a 100% hydrogen system” or hydrogen blends.

Released in April 2016, this NASA report explores hydrogen embrittlement, which is a decrease in the toughness of a metal caused by exposure to hydrogen or gases containing hydrogen, such as hydrogen sulfide. The report outlines:

• Physical indicators of embrittlement, such as singular sharp cracks
• Environmental factors that influence embrittlement, such as pressure, temperature, and hydrogen gas purity
• Methods for preventing and controlling hydrogen damage

• Demand for natural gas will flatten and potentially decrease over the comping decades
• Interest in hydrogen has drastically increased, as seen in supportive policies and funding
• Building a hydrogen supply chain is a top priority for developed countries, especially hydrogen production and transport

• Utilizing concentrations of hydrogen less than 15% appears to be viable without posing major safety risks or changes required at end-use devices, such as household appliances
• When it comes to distribution, the suitable blend concentration will vary depending on the pipeline materials and overall health
• Any introduction of hydrogen blends into the pipeline network system will require extensive testing in advance as well as on-going monitoring and maintenance
• These costs will need to be measured against the benefits of hydrogen blending

They concluded that:

• Hydrogen can contribute significantly to decarbonization if adopted by large-scale sectors such as transport and power generation
• Hydrogen can play a key role in stabilizing power supplies by supplementing the variable output from renewables like wind and solar

They made several recommendations to government and industry that could affect gas utilities, including:

• Focus on existing industrial ports to create lower cost hydrogen hubs
• Leverage existing natural gas infrastructure for distributing hydrogen
• Foster an increase in hydrogen availability and lower cost by establishing international standards and shipping route