GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

The gas industry has identified that solutions to mitigate the impact of hydrogen could enable a higher conversion rate for natural gas pipelines to hydrogen operation. Early-stage developments of internal coatings, inhibitors, and preparation of guidelines to adapt network operating conditions are ongoing and need to be accelerated.

Proposals should:

• Propose a testing approach covering the most relevant steel grades constitutive of EU transmission gas grids (with a particular attention to ensuring a good geographical coverage) and their different (current and envisioned future) operating conditions (maximum pressure, pressure cycling, etc.) for a 100% hydrogen service (natural gas/hydrogen mixtures are not in the scope of this topic; however, due to the partial pressure of hydrogen being the driving parameter, it is expected that studying various pressure conditions will contribute indirectly to qualifying grid for mixtures as well). This approach should combine mechanical tests and innovative modelling approaches.
• Deliver harmonised protocols and run material tests to measure the mechanical properties affected by the presence of hydrogen which are critical for its integration into networks, based upon the gap analysis performed, and focusing on critical effects (should include fatigue crack growth rate, fracture toughness, and impacts on welds and HAZ) and impact of chemical composition for grid components and future pipes. The shared protocols should ensure all results will be comparable between the different testing laboratories involved and should serve as a standardised reference guideline for future investigations.
• After the testing work-packages, deliver to relevant standardisation bodies a matrix of gas grid steel grades’ behaviour in the presence of hydrogen as a function of network operating conditions, assessing the compatibility of vintage and new components. Projects should also define design criteria including the allowed size of defects, depending on the hydrogen gas pressure. It is expected that the projects should propose new Pre-Normative assessment master-curves to reduce current over-conservatism of existing norms that is ineffectively slowing down H2-readiness assessments. It is also expected that these Pre-Normative results will strongly limit the current redundancy of costly R&D actions conducted in the different EU Member States, and deliver common approval guidelines to national authorities. Therefore, it is expected that all the data and results from the projects will be made entirely public.
• Investigate and propose initial guidelines for mitigation techniques limiting hydrogen uptake and thus embrittlement (such as adapted network operating conditions, inhibitors, or coating) for repurposed or new hydrogen grids and document their impact.