The UK was legally bound to make ambitious carbon reductions under the terms of the Climate Change Act (2008). However, the UK government signed legislation on 27th June 2019 committing the UK to a legally binding target of Net Zero emissions by 2050. This means the UK must tackle decarbonisation at pace and change the way energy is produced, transported and consumed to meet this new target.
NGN have committed to work with stakeholders and the government to work towards a strategy to convert the gas distribution networks to
hydrogen, including the H21 100% hydrogen project.
The current network components are designed and specified to be compatible with natural gas. In order to confirm that the current components are compatible with hydrogen, a review of the impact of the change in hydrogen characteristics on the materials that make up these components is needed to confirm if there are any issues of compatible or not and make recommendations if further research and testing is required.
- Components & materials would include such items as:
- Various types of pipe (PE, Steel etc)
- Valves
- Filters
- Regulators
- Governors
- E&I Equipment
- Heat Exchangers
- Bursting disc
- Sealants
- Greases
- Pastes
- Grouts
- Diaphragms
- Gaskets
There is existing research available on the effect of hydrogen on a lot of the materials in these components which needs to be reviewed to
assess their compatibility. This will include communicating with the supply chain to assist with reviewing the existing and new component
materials and making recommendation for further improvements and testing. It will also, for example, assist with reviewing component parts
that are not compatible to see if they can be retrofitted with replacement parts to become compatible rather than fully replaced.
From this research a methodology tool is needed to allow assessment of the NGN component materials for compatibility with hydrogen.
