PLASTIC PIPES IN INFRASTRUCTURE | CONFERENCE REVIEW
Infrastructure pipe is expected to last a long time –
which is why much of the work in this area concentrates on identifying and fixing pipe failure. Lou Reade reports
Building a future: infrastructure pipe
At the recent Plastic Pipes in Infrastructure confer- ence in London, organised by AMI, delegates learnt a lot about pipe failure – but also details of transporting a new gas via plastic pipe. Kiwa Technology, a testing firm based in The Netherlands, has assessed the suitability of PE pipes for hydrogen transport. Pressurised gas pipes are normally used to
transport natural gas (methane), because that is the gas used as household fuel. However, a number of pilot projects are investigating the use of hydrogen as a fuel. In many cases, it would be mixed with the methane. One advantage is that, because it contains no carbon molecules, it would not produce carbon dioxide when it burns – and so would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. René Hermkens, senior consultant at Kiwa, told
delegates that PE100 was a sensible choice for hydrogen transport pipes – as they were easy to install, and had both low maintenance costs and a limited number of welds.
www.pipeandprofile.com “We already have a huge gas grid in the Nether-
lands, which uses mainly PE and PVC,” he said. “PE is used to transport gas above 2 bar.” Although plastic pipe was well proven for natural
gas transport, Hermkens said there were still several questions related to it use with hydrogen – concern- ing chemical resistance, permeation, the best installation method, and maintenance and repair. Kiwa first carried out chemical resistance testing
by measuring weight loss. Pipe samples were exposed to 100% hydrogen for 1,000 hours – and found no evidence of chemical attack. And, while hydrogen is a far smaller molecule than methane – and so might be expected to permeate a plastic barrier more easily – Kiwa found that permeability was low. Projected gas low was very low – at less than 1m3 pipe at 2 bar.
per year from an SDR 11
Because it is such a small amount, he said that venting the hydrogen was a safe option, with minimal risk of fire or explosion. To further mitigate
June 2018 | PIPE & PROFILE EXTRUSION 25
Main image: Hydrogen networks could provide ready access to the gas as a fuel for special buses
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