Durability and transport properties of polyethylene pipes for distributing mixtures of hydrogen and natural gas

The objective of the Integrated Project Naturalhy is to prepare the European natural gas industry for the introduction of hydrogen by assessing the capability of the existing natural gas infrastructures to accept mixtures of hydrogen and natural gas. This paper presents the ongoing work on investigations of the distribution network within the Durability Work Package leaded by Gaz de France. Permeation measurements were performed at different temperatures on a PE80 with pure or mixed methane and hydrogen. Permeability coefficients were determined along with their temperature dependency. Development of dedicated long-term hydrogen ageing test bench has been achieved. The study of long-term behaviour of polyethylene for pipe applications has been started on PE80 and PE100. Real scale experiments on various components of distribution networks have been investigated. (authors)