Hydrogen is a critical component of the energy source of the future. It may be used to store extra solar or wind energy via electrolysis.
If power is required later, hydrogen may be turned back into electricity using fuel cells. Hydrogen may also be utilized for heating, industrial activities, and chemical reactions directly. This, however, presupposes that the gas can be transferred to the intended location.
Natural gas has long been regarded the preferred distribution network, with pipes running through most cities and many industrial units. The first methods for separating the two gases simply at the destination have also been created. The issue is that if hydrogen diffuses into the metal, it can cause corrosion and embrittlement. Atomic hydrogen is stored in the material’s structural lattice and becomes molecular hydrogen when it combines with impurities.
Internal strains in the grid and a rise in pressure result from the storage of H 2, which can produce microcracks in the material. When metals are deformed under mechanical pressure or tensile stress, when certain chemicals such as hydrogen sulfide are employed, and when they are exposed to high temperatures, they are more prone to embrittlement. Only 10 percent hydrogen has been introduced to the German natural gas network to date.
Researchers from the Technical University of Cologne, lead by Martin Bonnet, have now looked at how much of a danger of corrosion there is, as well as how hydrogen affects the materials used in ordinary industrial facilities. To accomplish so, scientists subjected nine common materials, including structural steels and copper, to hydrogen-rich gas combinations ranging from zero to 100 percent. All materials were also exposed to steady tensile stresses and so stretched over the course of a day in order to test their behavior even when loaded.
“We were unable to identify any hydrogen embrittlement in the materials employed,” Bonnet says. “For structural steels used in pipes and fittings under H2 pressure, the natural gas-hydrogen combination is not important.” As a result, a conversion to hydrogen admixture is achievable without causing any harm to metallic objects. In most circumstances, transporting hydrogen over existing lines should be safe.
The researchers also looked at how aggressively hydrogen damages metals when the system is heated to 920 degrees. “At increased temperatures, the diffusion speed of the hydrogen in the metal grid rises, stimulating the hydrogen to diffuse out of the metal grid,” Bonnet says.
