Innovative Solution for Rapid Multi-Gas Monitoring for Hydrogen Blended in Natural Gas

How Could Cubic Instruments Laser Raman Continuous Monitoring System LRGA-3100 Assist in the Process of Injection Hydrogen into Natural Gas?

On October 13th, 2023, Biden-Harris Administration has announced $7 billion to launch seven Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) across the nation. Initiated by Department of Energy (DOE), H2Hubs program aims to facilitate the production, storage, delivery, and utilization of clean hydrogen, thereby advancing the widespread adoption and integration of this sustainable energy source. Clean hydrogen, rather than being used alone, is primarily injected into the gas grid through blending with natural gas as a fuel gas in the United States nowadays, which allows more efficient utilization of resources and simultaneously achieves the objective of carbon reduction.

However, due to the considerable disparities in the physical and chemical characteristics of hydrogen and methane, operators in oil and gas industry are concerned with the safety of utilizing existing natural gas pipelines to transport hydrogen blended natural gas. Due to hydrogen’s extremely small molecule size and high diffusivity, it can permeate certain piping materials. Once entering the metal, hydrogen atoms will gather at dislocations and tiny voids of piping materials, causing a reduction in material toughness, crack formation, or time-delayed fractures. This process results in hydrogen embrittlement. Simultaneously, as the proportion of hydrogen gas increases in the pipeline and pressure intensifies, the risk of pipeline ruptures and gas leakage consequently escalates. In addition, operators are equally focused on meeting consumer requirements for the ratio of mixed gases as agreed upon in contracts, considering that variations in the mixture ratios will lead to fluctuations in the combustion efficiency of the gases due to different volumetric heating values of hydrogen and methane. To ensure the mixed gases achieve the desired energy demand and combustion performance at specific blending levels, operators must enforce strict adherence to the required proportion of hydrogen injection.

To address the issues of gas safety and gas quality concerns, continuously monitoring the concentration of blended hydrogen and natural gas is necessary to ensure the ratio of mixed gases consistently maintained at a specific level during transportation through gas pipelines to end users.

Cubic Instruments, a leading manufacturer of gas analyzers, has leveraged Cubic mature technology platform of Laser Raman spectroscopy technology to provide advancing solutions for multiple gas concentration measurements. To achieve high levels of accuracy and reliability in measuring different gas components, Cubic Instruments has innovatively developed rapid online gas analyzer, LRGA-3100, which can be applied in oil and gas industry.

Based on Laser Raman spectroscopy technology, LRGA-3100 is specifically designed to tackle the challenges of rapid and simultaneous monitoring of multiple gases. It is capable of automatically providing online continuous measurement for all components of alkanes, including CH4, C2H6, C3H8, C4H10 and so on, as well as homonuclear diatomic molecule, including H2, N2, O2, and more. In addition, LRGA-3100 excels in providing high-precision measurements and exceptionally low drift, ensuring the reliable measurements for multi-gas monitoring of blended hydrogen and natural gas concentration. Moreover, LRGA-3100 effectively mitigate the risk of measurement errors caused by manual operations, which could occur when applying traditional GC-MS methods. As a result, through timely analysis of data changes, operators in the oil and gas industry can promptly adjust the upstream process of hydrogen injection into natural gas to meet safety limits and gas quality requirements with increased effectiveness.

With its revolutionary advancements in gas monitoring technology, LRGA-3100 empowers the oil and gas industry with accuracy, reliability, and efficiency. Aligning with the rising trend of hydrogen application in the U.S., the state-of-art LRGA-3100 will significantly assist operators in transitioning towards a safer, cleaner, and more sustainable energy future.