The use of natural gas pipelines for the transportation of hydrogen could open up new opportunities for industry. In order to enable a variable hydrogen content in natural gas (0 to 100 %), precise measurement of the hydrogen concentration is required. The company Archigas has developed a new method of measurement based on thermal conductivity measurement. This solution meets the requirements for speed, accuracy and reliability and has already been tested by users and the VSL research institute.
The addition of hydrogen to natural gas has several advantages: it reduces CO2 emissions, increases the calorific value of the gas and thus increases energy efficiency, which is particularly important for energy-intensive industries. In addition, surplus green electricity can be stored in the form of hydrogen and integrated into the gas grid. In order to make these processes safe and effective, the precise measurement of the hydrogen content in the natural gas is crucial.
Manufacturers such as Archigas offer the TCD3000 SiA gas analyzer for this purpose, which features optimized thermal conductivity measurement (WLD). The device measures the hydrogen content reliably, even under difficult conditions such as moisture, particles and high pressures of up to 200 bar. It is suitable for the entire measuring range from 0 to 100 % hydrogen and delivers precise results.
„The demand for options for measuring H2 in CH4 is enormous, as we know from urgent inquiries from interested parties in various countries. However, there are hardly any technical solutions to date, and certainly not any that measure in-line and are already available on the market. In the meantime, long-term practical applications, such as those carried out by a well-known customer and manufacturer of natural gas plants from Italy, have proven that Archigas' gas analysis can also demonstrate its specific characteristics in this area of application”, reports the managing director duo Vladimir Barskyi
Performance tested for the detection of H2 in CH4
As Archigas announced on 15 April, a comparative test recently carried out by the Dutch research institute VSL as part of an EMPIR decarbonization project also confirmed the potential of the advanced WLD technology for the precise and sophisticated measurement of hydrogen in natural gas.
Barskyi explained that they at Archigas had carefully examined the results of the study in relation to their device. From their point of view, the exceptionally short response time was particularly noteworthy. While the t95 time of the other technology tested is given in minutes, the t95 value of their measuring device is less than one second as soon as the gas reaches the device. This is basically live monitoring. Barskyi went on to explain that to make the most of the high measurement precision of their sensor solution in practice, calibration prior to use is recommended. In this test, however, her device had only been tested uncalibrated due to the test design, which the testers had also pointed out. Even under these conditions, the device achieved a standard deviation of well below 10 % by volume without being calibrated. With calibration, the precision was less than 1% of the measuring range, which they knew from years of experience.
