HyBlend project to assess hydrogen compatibility with pipeline materials and operations

The two-year HyBlend project, led by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will assess hydrogen compatibility with pipeline materials and operations and deliver important information about long-tethered hydrogen pipelines.

The United States has a vast natural gas pipeline network of around 3,000,000 miles and a dedicated hydrogen pipeline network of over 1,600 miles. Clean hydrogen may be pumped into natural gas pipes, and the resulting mixes can be utilized to create heat and electricity with less emissions than natural gas alone.

Blend restrictions, on the other hand, are determined by the design and condition of present pipeline materials, pipeline infrastructure equipment, and natural gas-using applications. To analyze pipeline materials’ vulnerability to hydrogen impacts, the HyBlend team will test them in varied quantities of hydrogen at pressures up to 100 bar.

The HyBlend cooperation was initiated by the DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) in 2021, and the DOE Hydrogen Program will oversee related activities. The National Laboratory team, directed by NREL, is largely responsible for R&D initiatives within the cooperation.

More than 30 corporate, nonprofit, and academic stakeholders have lent their support to the DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, which is part of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. GTI is spearheading energy industry engagement, offering direct money and in-kind cost sharing to supplement the government’s $10 million investment.

Financial assistance is being provided by Operations Technology Development (OTD) and Utilization Technology Development (UTD), two worldwide partnerships of top natural gas utilities that promote research solutions for a wide variety of difficulties and changes in gas systems.

Boardwalk Pipelines, ConocoPhillips Company, Equitrans Midstream, Mears Group, Inc., a Quanta Services company, PSE&G, Xcel Energy, ONEOK Inc., Exelon Corp., and GRT Gaz Research and Innovation Center for Energy (RICE), a European-based organization, are among the companies that have joined GTI to support the HyBlend project.

GTI is acting as an industry liaison and will play a vital role in technical studies, which will include a life-cycle study for carbon emissions reductions and a techno-economic analysis to evaluate grid-scale hydrogen energy storage and transportation options.