Saturday, October 24, 2020

Can You Spell Kaboom ???

Here is a puff piece suggesting that existing natural gas lines can be used to transport hydrogen:

https://www.siemens-energy.com/global/en/news/magazine/2020/repurposing-natural-gas-infrastructure-for-hydrogen.html

Nowhere does it address whether such existing infrastructure can be used SAFELY for this purpose.

In a former life, I was the pre-op test engineer for the offgas system at a boiling water nuclear reactor power station. The offgas system carries byproduct hydrogen gas and is designed to do so safely. To demonstrate its ability to safely carry hydrogen, the system was tested for leaks using helium, a light element whose leakage characteristics are as close to hydrogen as possible.

Existing natural gas pipelines and other infrastructure almost certainly have not been subject to such testing. Therefore, it is not possible to claim they would be safe when transporting hydrogen.

If your gas company tries to put hydrogen in the pipes of your gas system, demand that they do helium leak testing first. If they don't or won't, tell them NO WAY !!!

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