HyTap

Project

Thema: Hydrogen

Gasunie is building a national hydrogen network. Working safely on pipelines carrying hydrogen has been tested in the HyTap project.

Gasunie has been commissioned by the Dutch government to build a national hydrogen network. For the transition to sustainable energy, we are preparing part of the existing natural gas transmission system for the transmission of hydrogen. However, hydrogen has different properties to natural gas. What does this mean for the management and maintenance of the pipelines? After first completing a number of safety studies, a field test was carried out with a pipeline filled with hydrogen.

Successful field test

The field test involved a 20″ pipeline filled with hydrogen, under a pressure of 66 bar. In the field test, the main activities carried out on an in-service (i.e. gas containing) pipeline were tested with the aim of seeing whether the activities carried out on a pipeline transporting natural gas could be safely performed on one filled with hydrogen. And that proved to be the case. The field test showed that activities such as welding, tapping and installing a sealing component (‘stoppling’) on an in-service hydrogen pipeline do not differ much from when working with natural gas. The measures for ensuring a safe working environment were also tested extensively.

Collaboration with partners

The field test took place in the spring of 2023 at the Twente Safety Campus in Enschede. Gasunie carried out the field test in collaboration with T.D. Williamson and DNV. HyTap was made possible in part by several European gas network operators and the Emerging Fuels Institute. Independent certification agency Kiwa documented the results in a report.