United Kingdom

The HyDeploy project has undertaken a programme of work to assess the effect of hydrogen addition on the safety and performance of gas appliances and installations. A representative set of eight appliances have been assessed in laboratory experiments with a range of test gases that explored high and low Wobbe Index and hydrogen concentrations up to 28.4 % mol/mol. These tests have demonstrated that the addition of hydrogen does not affect the key hazard areas of CO production light back flame out or the operation of flame failure devices. It was identified that for some designs of gas fire appliances the operation of the oxygen depletion sensors may be affected by the addition of hydrogen. Testing of the gas fires that are present at Keele University that use oxygen depletion sensors have been shown to operate satisfactorily.<br/>A comprehensive onsite survey programme at Keele University has assessed 95% of the installations (126 of 133) that will receive the hydrogen blended gas during the HyDeploy trial. Where access to properties was not possible then the information obtained revealed that the appliances were annually checked either through British Gas service contracts or as a result of being rental properties. The onsite testing programme assessed installations for gas tightness and appliance combustion safety and operation with normal line gas G20 reference gas and two hydrogen blended gases. The checks identified a small number instances were remedial work was required to correct poor condition or operation. Only one case was found to be immediately dangerous which was capped off until repair work was undertaken. CO and smoke alarms were fitted in approximately half of properties and alarms were provided as required to the occupants. Gas tightness tests identified leaks in three installations. Where installations are gas tight then analysis has shown that no additional leaks would occur with hydrogen blended gas. There were no issues identified with the combustion performance of those appliances that were operating correctly and results were in line with those obtained in the laboratory testing programme.<br/>The findings of the Appliance and Installation testing program have been used to define the input values into the HyDeploy quantified risk assessment (QRA) where Keele University specific operation is different to GB as a whole or where the findings show the addition of hydrogen will change the risk profile.<br/>Click on supplements to see the other documents from this report

In its new report Making the Hydrogen Economy Possible: Accelerating clean hydrogen in an electrified economy the ETC outlines the role of clean hydrogen in achieving a highly electrified net-zero economy. The report sets out how a combination of private-sector collaboration and policy support can drive the initial ramp up of clean hydrogen production and use to reach 50 million tonnes by 2030.<br/>Clean hydrogen will play a complementary role to decarbonise sectors where direct electrification is likely to be technologically very challenging or prohibitively expensive such as in steel production and long-distance shipping. The report highlights how critical rapid ramp-up of production and use in the 2020s is to unlock cost reductions and to make mid-century growth targets achievable.<br/>This report is part of the ETC’s wider Making Mission Possible Series – a series of reports outlining how to scale up clean energy provision within the next 30 years to meet the needs of a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) economy by mid-century. The reports in the series analyse and set out specific actions required in the next decade to put this net-zero by 2050 target within reach.

In the framework of the EU-funded project HyTunnel-CS an inter-comparison among partners CFD simulations  has  been  carried  out.  The simulations  are  based  on  experiments  conducted   within  the project by Pro-Science and involve hydrogen release inside a safety vessel testing different ventilation configurations. The different ventilation configurations that were tested are co-flow counter-flow and cross-flow.  In the  current  study  co-flow  and  counter-flow  tests   along  with  the  no  ventilation  test (m'  = S g/s  d = 4 mm ) are simulated with the aim to validate available and well-known CFD codes against  such  applications  and  to  provide   recommendations  on  modeling  strategies. Special  focus  is given on modeling the velocity field produced by the fan during the experiments. The computational results are compared with the experimental results and a discussion follows regarding the efficiency of each ventilation configuration.

We demonstrate a new approach for producing highly dispersed supported metal phosphide powders with small particle size improved stability and increased electrocatalytic activity towards some useful reactions. The approach involves a one-step conversion of metal supported on high surface area carbon to the metal phosphide utilising a very simple and scalable synthetic process. We use this approach to produce PdP₂ and Pd₅P₂ particles dispersed on carbon with a particle size of 4.5–5.5 nm by converting a commercially available Pd/C powder. The metal phosphide catalysts were tested for the oxygen reduction hydrogen oxidation and evolution and formic acid oxidation reactions. Compared to the unconverted Pd/C material we find that alloying the P at different levels shifts oxide formation on the Pd to higher potentials leading to greater stability during cycling studies (20% more ECSA retained 5k cycles) and in thermal treatment under air. Hydrogen absorption within the PdP₂ and Pd₅P₂ particles is enhanced. The phosphides compare favourably to the most active catalysts reported to date for formic acid oxidation especially PdP₂ and there is a significant decrease in poisoning of the surface compared to Pd alone. The mechanistic changes in the reactions studied are rationalised in terms of increased water activation on the surface phosphorus atoms of the catalyst. One of the catalysts PdP₂/C is tested in a fuel cell as anode and cathode catalyst and shows good performance.

The aim of this project was to review the current purge standards for UK domestic installations in particular IGEM/UP/1B and carry out experiments to assess the validity of those standards for use in hydrogen in order to understand and recommend safe purge practices for hydrogen in a domestic environment.

This report provides the results and conclusions relating to the relative safety of purging domestic installations to hydrogen compared to Natural Gas and the implications of releasing any purged gas

into an enclosed volume representing a small room.

The two high-level findings from this work are:

• changeover to hydrogen will result in an increased risk of flammability inside the installation pipework
• changeover to hydrogen will result in a reduced risk of a build-up of flammable gas in any room where purging occurs.

This work recognises a number of important differences between hydrogen and methane. Hydrogen is more flammable than methane in air particularly at high concentrations. Hydrogen can maintain a flame at 4% but does not support general three dimensional deflagration until about 8.5%. Above about 18% given increased obstruction within the combustion zone or passage of the flame along a pipe the deflagration can transition to detonation. The flame speed suddenly increases to ~2000m/s. It is very important to avoid this situation although the inventory in a domestic pipe is low. This risk of detonation can occur at concentrations up to 59% and the risk of deflagration remains to 75 %.Methane behaves very differently to this with a range of deflagration of about 4.8 to 16% and a detonation range only marginally narrower. Initiating detonation is however much more difficult with methane.

The risks with hydrogen are associated with a wide range of flammability with methane the risks are smaller and mainly in lower concentrations of gas in air. Because of this it is particularly important to ensure hydrogen pipes are appropriately purged.

UK homes are primarily heated by fossil fuels and contribute 13% of UK’s carbon footprint (equivalent to all the UK’s 38.4m cars). The report says this is incompatible with UK climate legislation targeting net-zero economy by 2050. New polling finds that consumers are open to cleaner greener ways to heat their homes into the future but that they are “still in the dark about smarter greener heating solutions and lack access to independent advice to help them make better decisions for their homes pockets and the planet”.<br/><br/>The report – Uncomfortable Home Truths: why Britain urgently needs a low carbon heat strategy – says a bold new national roadmap is needed by 2020 which puts consumers and households at the heart of a revolution in green heat innovation. It recommends the creation of an Olympic-style delivery body to catalyse and coordinate regional innovation and local leadership tailored to different parts of the UK and the nation’s diverse housing stock.<br/><br/>This report is the third in the Future Gas Series which has explored the opportunities and challenges associated with using low carbon gas in the energy system and is backed by cross-party parliamentary co-Chairs

Hydrogen is a convenient energy storage medium; it can be produced from fossil fuels and biomass via chemical conversion processes or from intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar via electrolysis. It is the fuel of choice for the clean fuel-cell vehicles of the future. If the general public are to use hydrogen as a vehicle fuel customers must be able to handle hydrogen with the same degree of confidence and with comparable risk as conventional liquid and gaseous fuels. For the safe design of retail facilities through the development of appropriate codes and standards it is essential to understand all the hazards that could arise following an accidental release of hydrogen. If it is to be stored and used as a high-pressure gas the hazards associated with jet releases from accidental leaks must be considered. This paper describes work by Shell and the Health and Safety Laboratory to characterise the hazards from jet releases of hydrogen. Jet release experiments have been carried out using small leaks (circular holes ranging from 1 mm to 12 mm diameter) at system pressures up to 150 barg. Concentration measurements were made in the unignited free jets to determine the extent of the flammable cloud generated. Ignited jets were observed both in the visible and infrared to determine the flame size and shape. The experimental results for the extent of the flammable cloud and jet flame length were found to be in good agreement with model predictions.

The characterization of liquid hydrogen (LH2) releases has been identified as an international research priority to facilitate the safe use of hydrogen as an energy carrier. Empirical field measurements such as those afforded by Hydrogen Wide Area Monitoring can elucidate the behavior of LH2 releases which can then be used to support and validate dispersion models. Hydrogen Wide Area Monitoring can be defined as the quantitative three-dimensional spatial and temporal profiling of planned or unintentional hydrogen releases. The NREL Sensor Laboratory developed a Hydrogen Wide Area Monitor (HyWAM) based upon a distributed array of hydrogen sensors. The NREL Sensor Laboratory and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) formally committed to collaborate on profiling GH2 and LH2 releases which allowed for the integration of the NREL HyWAM into the HSE LH2 release behavior investigation supported by the FCH JU Prenormative Research for the Safe Use of Liquid Hydrogen (PRESLHY) program. A HyWAM system was deployed consisting of 32 hydrogen measurement points and co-located temperature sensors distributed downstream of the LH2 release apparatus developed by HSE. In addition the HyWAM deployment was supported by proximal wind and weather monitors. In a separate presentation at this conference “HSE Experimental Summary for the Characterisation Dispersion and Electrostatic Hazards of LH2 for the PRESLHY Project” HSE researchers summarize the experimental apparatus and protocols utilized in the HSE LH2 releases that were performed under the auspices of PRESLHY. As a supplement to the HSE presentation this presentation will focus on the spatial and temporal behavior LH2 releases as measured by the NREL HyWAM. Correlations to ambient conditions such as wind speed and direction plume temperature and hydrogen concentrations will be discussed in addition to the design and performance of the NREL HyWAM and its potential for improving hydrogen facility safety.

A new report to the Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy from the Parliamentary Advisory Group on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) advises that that the UK  should kickstart CCS in order to save consumers billions a year from the cost of meeting climate change targets.

The Institution of Gas Engineers & Managers (IGEM) is the UK’s Professional Engineering Institution supporting individuals and businesses working in the global gas industry. IGEM was founded in 1863 with the purpose of advancing the science and relevant knowledge of gas engineering for the benefit of the public.



As a not-for-profit independent organisation IGEM acts as a trusted source of technical information guidance and services for the gas sector. In today’s net zero context IGEM is focused on engineering a sustainable gas future – we do this by:

• Helping our members achieve and uphold the highest standards of professional competence to ensure the safety of the public
• Supporting our members in achieving their career goals by providing high quality products services and personal and professional development opportunities 
• Acting as the voice of the gas industry when working with stakeholders to develop and improve gas policy. 

This document outlines the current UK gas policy landscape our stance and what contribution we are making as an organisation.