Learnings

Outcomes

The outcomes of the project are:

1.      Flue gas analysis detectors have been found to not require modification to account for a 20% hydrogen blend. As per Gas Safe Technical Bulletin 157, which was written from the evidence collected within this project. This is a subtle but very meaningful conclusion, given that no change to equipment will be needed for the 130,000 Gas Safe engineers in the UK.

2.      Operational results would indicate that boilers operate well with a hydrogen blend compared to natural gas, as no issues were identified throughout the operational period, the formal technical results will be available following the manufacturers analysis.

3.      Network operational consideration such as pressure profiles are not affected by a hydrogen blend.

4.      A hydrogen blend composition is independent of demand e.g. a consistent demand is experienced across the network.

Lessons Learnt

The key lessons learnt for future project are:

1.      Collaborating with industry stakeholders and manufacturers creates both project efficiencies as well as a better technical outcome as expertise can be leveraged as well as fostering wider industry support for findings.

2.      Robust experimental methodologies require much consideration to ensure rigor. For example, the manufacturers were not told which boiler was supplied with which fuel to ensure no biasing of analysis.
Ensuring the right process and mechanical designs are implemented prior to experimentation is key to delivering robust evidence which can be used to engage with stakeholders.