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Building a standardized framework to certify meters and other equipment for hydrogen/gas compositions is a necessary step that could help further rapid fuel adoption.
By Emilio Consonni, Product Marketing Manager, Gas Devices, ItronItron enables utilities and cities to safely, securely and reliably deliver critical infrastructure services to communities in more than 100 countries.
A Testing Framework for Hydrogen CompatibilityBlending hydrogen into the natural gas pipeline is gaining momentum all over the world for many reasons, mainly related to sustainability, environmental protection and the potential for significant gains in clean energy production. In its first Global Hydrogen Review, the International Energy Agency is urging faster adoption of low-carbon hydrogen to put the world on track for a sustainable energy system by 2050. Recently, the Biden-Harris administration also announced a historic $7 billion funding opportunity to jump-start America’s clean hydrogen economy. This U.S. Department of Energy-managed program aims to accelerate the development of technologies that can leverage the versatility of hydrogen as an important component of a carbon-free grid. These important milestones are a signal to the industry that hydrogen is a resource on the rise.Advantages of Bringing Hydrogen safely into the MixHydrogen can help in many ways across different energy-using sectors, from transportation to industrial processes. It has also been demonstrated that hydrogen can be a fit for residential uses within reasonable blending percentages. Furthermore, it can provide better integration of renewables by enabling the storage of excess electricity, converted into hydrogen through electrolysis, during periods of low demand when the energy would be otherwise wasted. Hydrogen injection into the gas grid is then considered a solution with easy applicability by allowing reuse of the existing infrastructure and avoiding stranded assets.One of the major advantages of hydrogen is that it can be mixed with natural gas in existing distribution systems to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with burning the fossil fuel. It’s generally agreed that blending up to 10% hydrogen with natural gas (on a volumetric basis) would require no modifications to the low-pressure distribution system or to domestic end-user appliances. It’s also likely that blending up to 20% could be achieved with certain modifications. In fact, several demonstration projects are underway on this, and preliminary results are promising.However, as safety in the gas industry is paramount, it must be noted that mixing hydrogen with natural gas impacts the entire system due to the different characteristics of these gases. Furthermore, there is a significant barrier that could slow broader industry adoption if, and when, the supply of low-carbon hydrogen increases and legal limits are removed. Despite general industry and scientific agreement about the amount of hydrogen that natural gas devices can withstand, there’s currently no regulatory framework for certifying devices in compliance with the new gas compositions, even though many actions are in place to modify the relevant standards or provide bridging certification solutions.A Testing Framework for Industry ConsiderationOver the last four years, Itron has partnered with European test bodies and researchers at German universities to develop a comprehensive framework to benefit the gas industry, testing the compatibility of natural gas meters with blends of natural gas and hydrogen. Now in use and available for broader market adoption, the framework is based on five main pillars that characterize a meter in its lifetime:

Material compatibility. We know that not all materials are compatible with hydrogen. Some plastics can become chemically unstable when they come in contact with it. Similarly, some metals break down with exposure. This pillar considers testing how hydrogen may affect the performance of any exposed material (metals, membranes, plastics, sensors, etc.) in a product, and ultimately assessing that there are no compatibility issues. This can be achieved either by using the available information on material compatibility (there are already some standards dealing with hydrogen use) or by testing when there is incomplete or no available information.

Embrittlement. Being compatible with hydrogen in the short term is not enough, as materials must also prove durable over the entire life span of a meter. It has been proven that hydrogen exposure can help uncover long-term issues such as embrittlement. This second step helps determine whether metal components will stiffen and/or fracture with exposure to higher levels of hydrogen over time. We also need to consider that temperature and pressure are affecting the speed at which the material can become brittle.

Tightness. Regulations set clear limits on emissions. Due to the smaller size of hydrogen molecules compared to natural gas, existing standardized tests shall be revised to consider the said differences, while still providing the same safety level as for use with natural gas.

Risk. Mixing hydrogen with natural gas changes the characteristics of the mixture. To maintain the safety levels we impose with natural gas, we need to determine how devices should be designed to account for the different characteristics of increasing rates of hydrogen gas in the mix.

Metrology. Blending hydrogen gas can affect metrology in different ways depending on the metering principles and design of the meters. Metrology is key in protecting all parties, which is why it is essential to evaluate how increasing rates of hydrogen along with different pressure and temperature levels affect the accuracy of different measurement principles and meter types. When the influence of hydrogen on metrology is known, it will be possible to assess whether the effect is within the allowable margins for accuracy.

The Path Toward Compliance and a Call to ActionTesting bodies around the world are beginning to provide facilities for evaluating metering devices with hydrogen, and steps are being taken to establish the necessary metrology chain—a traceable set of standards and common references to assure that results from one laboratory are comparable to those produced at another facility.Itron supports several of these initiatives, one of the most critical being our collaboration with several testing bodies in the NewGasMet project. This initiative also aims to assess how testing standards need to be changed and ratified across the industry. This would allow manufacturers to develop hydrogencompatible meters and submit them for compliance certification. Broader industry participation is key to expanding this project and overcoming the challenges of bringing safe and thoroughly tested hydrogen-based solutions to bear. Building a standardized testing framework for gas devices is a practical step that we can all take together now.
To learn more about the technical application of this framework and how you can participate, read Itron’s white paper on the subject, Evaluating Hydrogen Compatibility: A Framework for Natural Gas Metering Devices, on itron.com.
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