H2LAB: A laboratory for investigating hydrogen blending in natural gas from injection to combustion

将氢气（H2）混合到现有的天然气管道网络中已被提出作为减少温室气体排放的策略。引入和促进氢气作为清洁燃料的最重要机会之一是现有的天然气基础设施，例如BC 50，000公里的管道，其中氢气可以混合到天然气供应中;然而，行业，监管机构和政策制定者没有批准的体积混合物的确定% H2。需要采用循证方法将氢气成功地整合到现有的天然气网络中。将氢气引入现有天然气网络的技术不确定性、对最终用户的潜在影响以及缺乏适用的规范、标准和法规是氢气部署的关键障碍。拟议的研究是UBC工程学院，FortisBC能源公司，加拿大最大的私营天然气分销公用事业公司和Hetek Solutions Inc.（Hetek），加拿大天然气行业风险管理仪器的主要供应商之一，其目标是开发一种新型的可扩展的自动化测试平台H2 LAB，用于对天然气中H2混合的性能和可行性进行综合实验研究（按体积计H2的范围为5 - 20%）。协调研究将在单个试验台上整合混合质量、材料暴露、分离、燃烧和排放的研究，以确定可以安全注入天然气网的% H2范围，以降低其碳强度并减少温室气体，以评估可行性，为监管法规和标准提供信息（例如《燃气安全条例》），并提供循证政策建议，以告知整体公共安全FEI和BC省现有天然气管道网络的耐久性和完整性。该项目的成功完成估计将使BC每年减少512，500吨CO2当量（CO2 e），这是由拟议研究确定的H2的最大安全%确定的，其结果将直接有助于设计和实施基于UBC的建筑规模试验设施，用于2024年的H2混合研究。

Blending hydrogen gas (H2) into the existing natural gas pipeline network has been proposed as a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One of the most significant opportunities to introduce and boost uptake of H2 as a clean fuel is represented by the existing natural gas infrastructure, such as BC 50,000 kilometres of pipelines, where H2 can be blended into the natural gas supply; however, there is no determined % H2 by volume blend approved by industry, regulators and policymakers. An evidence-based approach is required to integrate H2 into existing gas networks successfully. The technical uncertainties of introducing H2 into the existing gas network, the potential impacts on end-users, and the lack of applicable codes, standards, and regulations are crucial impediments to H2 deployment that need to be addressed. The proposed research is a unique partnership between UBC School of Engineering, FortisBC Energy Inc., Canada's largest private natural gas distribution utility company, and Hetek Solutions Inc. (Hetek), one of Canada's premier suppliers of risk management instrumentation to Canada's natural gas sector, with the goal to develop a novel scalable and automated testbed, H2LAB, for conducting an integrated experimental study on the performance and feasibility of H2 blending in natural gas (for a range of 5 - 20% H2 by volume). The coordinated research will integrate the study of mixing quality, material exposure, separation, combustion and emission on a single testbed to determine the range of % H2 that can be safely injected into the natural gas grid to lower its carbon intensity and reduce GHGs to assess feasibility, inform regulatory codes and standards (e.g. Gas Safety Regulation), and provide evidence-based policy recommendations to inform overall public safety on the durability and integrity of FEI and BC's existing natural gas pipeline network. The successful completion of the project is estimated to reduce CO2 equivalent (CO2e) by 512,500 tonnes per year in BC, as determined by the maximum safe % of H2 determined by the proposed research, and the results will directly contribute to the design and implementation of a UBC-based building-scale pilot facility for the study of H2 blending in 2024.