The European Pipeline Research Group (EPRG) undertakes a wide range of research directed towards the increased integrity and safety of gas pipelines. Topics such as corrosion, fit-for-purpose assessment, and pipeline rehabilitation constitute the major areas of concern for existing pipelines. Whereas areas of concern for new pipelines, in the ever-expanding European gas grid, such as the use of higher strength steels and higher hoop stress factors, and new fluids provide new challenges and opportunities for cost-effective pipeline construction and operation.Collaboration on international research programmes, through industry bodies such as EPRG, is essential to ensure we benefit from leveraged research. Continued participation in EPRG allows National Grid and Cadent Gas to develop a breadth and depth of knowledge that can only be realised through leveraged research programmes, providing maximum cost effectiveness to the customer.
Benefits
The benefits of participating in these European leveraged projects will enable National Grid and Cadent Gas to develop and implement best practice for a fraction of the full cost.
Learnings
Outcomes
Project outcomes have been shared with EPRG members via the Teams site, EPRG SharePoint and website. Further information sharing occurs during regular topic group and committee meetings and full group meetings such as the Plenary and Fracture Summit in December 2023. Additionally, research will be shared at events such as the Emerging Fuels Symposium in the Athens in May 2024.
A selection of the projects undertaken by EPRG during 2023-2024 is given below:
· Project 230 [Design] (2021) – Weld defect guidelines
· Project 231 [Design] (2021) – H2 Full Scale Fatigue Tests
o Project has been very informative to inform the use of fracture mechanics approaches for hydrogen service
· Project 232 [Materials] (2021) – H2 small scale
o Project has generated data to feed into Project 231 full-scale test programme. In addition a fracture toughness testing best practice guide has been issued by EPRG.
The following projects are due to start in 2024:
· Project 216a – Literature study: predicting fracture behaviour of modern steel pipe
· Project 229 [Design] (2021) – In ditch hardness verification
· Project 233 [Design] (2022) – Burst tests
· Project 234 [Design] – Liner wrinkling
· Project 236 [Design] – Recommendations for characterization fatigue corrosion
· Project 237 (2023) – M-Gaseous CO2
· Project 238 (2023) – C-CCUS Literature
· Project 239 (2023) – M-NDT state-of-the-art performance
The project value tracking is listed below:
· Maturity
o TRL 2-5
· Opportunity
o Projects focus on pipeline assets
· Deployment Costs
o No direct deployment costs expected.
· Innovation Cost
o £ 225,000
· Financial Saving
o Work could be supporting evidence to enable optimised network operation.
· Safety
o No direct safety benefits expected.
· Environment
o No direct environmental benefits expected.
· Compliance
o No direct compliance benefits expected.
· Skills & Competencies
o Work will augment knowledge of individuals involved in projects & meeting across the business.
· Future Proof
o Results will support operation of future hydrogen national transmission system.
The net benefits delivered so far are valuable detailed discussions on a large variety of topics related to the transition to hydrogen plus natural gas transmission. Ongoing EPRG projects on hydrogen and carbon dioxide will provide unique information regarding the performance of pipeline steels in these gases which will feed into future design and integrity management systems. With these forecasted benefits to be delivered in over the coming years.
Lessons Learnt
Recommendations for updates/creation of standards and/or follow-on projects have been made for the projects which have been concluded within this period.
There is a significant volume of work being undertaken by EPRG that is of value to National Gas and Cadent, especially with regards hydrogen and carbon dioxide transmission. Resource should be made available to fully exploit the learnings from projects and to more actively contribute to project definition and delivery. Projects run via EPRG are likely to represent better value for money compared to projects initiated directly by National Gas or Cadent and so should be pursued where appropriate.
