Southwest Research Institute in Texas improved its test equipment to enable the evaluation of the impacts of delivering natural gas and hydrogen mixes over the same pipeline. The latest capacity will assist clients in researching hydrogen-based solutions in order to determine whether infrastructure for climate-warming greenhouse gases may be switched to more sustainable supplies.
“Hydrogen is a great alternative to existing fossil fuels like natural gas, and it has the potential to lower the energy sector’s carbon footprint and reach a more sustainable energy future,” SwRI Research Engineer Swanand Bhagwat stated.
At first, glance, using hydrogen in appliances instead of methane-based natural gas or carbon dioxide-emitting fuels in combustion engines appears to be a terrific way to decarbonize our economy and reduce possible climate consequences. However, there are several obstacles to using pure hydrogen in-home applications and power generating. Hydrogen embrittlement, for example, can cause metal parts to leak and fail. Because of differences in hydrogen combustion properties, a pure hydrogen stream cannot be used in power production with current equipment. Furthermore, owing to cost and safety considerations, creating new pipelines to transport pure hydrogen is not the most practical option.
