Thermophysical Properties of Hydrogen Enriched Natural Gas

R&D Focus Areas:
Gas networks and appliances, Compressed gas, Pipeline design and integrity management

Lead Organisation:
The University of Western Australia

Funding:
Future Energy Exports CRC (Research Project)

Status:
Completed

Start date:
April 2022

Project summary description:
Thermophysical property data for pure hydrogen and its related mixtures are essential to design the process equipment required for production, liquefaction, storage and transport. However, there is a notable lack of accurate data at industrially relevant conditions, especially for hydrogen mixtures above 100 K (transport and utilisation) and for hydrogen with impurities at cryogenic temperatures (liquefaction and storage). These concerns also extend to mixed refrigerants (MRs) that will be used in industrial liquefiers.

The limitations of thermophysical property models and uncertainties that arise from limited data ultimately increase the uncertainty in the design, for example using typical process simulations and flow sheet calculations tools.  Uncertainty in property calculations can also lead to inefficiencies in design and operation of process equipment (e.g., blade angles in turbo machinery, limiting operational range; design of advanced heat exchangers with very small temperature gradients).

This project will focus on the blending of hydrogen into natural gas pipeline networks as a means of delivering hydrogen to markets. Mixing hydrogen into natural gas pipelines requires several considerations regarding the compression of this mixture, the use of the mixture as a fuel (for example, in gas turbines), and the impact of pipeline capacity and transport efficiency. However, there still a need to improve the quality and quantity of data available for hydrogen-natural gas mixtures (such as density, heat capacity, speed of sound, viscosity, phase equilibrium, water-vapour dewpoint, and interfacial tension) to assess the impact of hydrogen addition in various concentrations to a natural gas pipeline.

Further information:
Thermophysical Properties of Hydrogen Enriched Natural Gas (21.RP2.0093) – Completed – Future Energy Exports (fenex.org.au)

 

Reviewed: October 2024