Developments in hydrogen pipeline construction in China in 2022
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With the development of hydrogen energy and the maturation and improvement of related technologies, large-scale centralized hydrogen production and long-distance transportation of hydrogen represent future trends. Pipeline transportation, being an economical method, holds great promise for the future and represents an important approach to overcoming challenges related to storage and transportation. Establishing a high-pressure hydrogen transmission network is the ultimate goal in building a hydrogen society. Affected by factors such as differences in gas properties, hydrogen doping ratio, pipeline material, and external environment, hydrogen poses risks such as hydrogen embrittlement, permeation, and leakage once it enters the pipelines. Studies have shown that factors such as hydrogen pressure, purity, ambient temperature, pipe strength level, deformation rate, and microstructure all affect the degree of damage to the pipe. The higher the grade of pipeline steel, the more susceptible it is to hydrogen effects; low-strength steel is more suitable for transporting hydrogenated natural gas. When the hydrogen concentration is below 50%, severe fractures in the pipeline are less likely to occur ； When the pipeline pressure is below 2 MPa, hydrogen-induced crack propagation is less likely to occur at defects in the pipeline. Due to the objective existence of these issues, the construction of hydrogen pipelines requires a set of stricter standards for regulation. Previously, there were certain advancements in China’s standards related to pipeline hydrogen transport: in July 2021, the development of the \"Technical Specifications for Urban Civil Hydrogen Transmission and Distribution Systems,\" with the Southwest Municipal Engineering Institute serving as the lead editor, was officially launched. In July 2021, the China Standards Association approved the development of the \"Technical Specifications for Industrial Pipelines for Hydrogen Transport,\" with Beijing Public Works Engineering Design and Supervision Co., Ltd. serving as the lead compiler ； In August 2021, the China Standards Association issued a notice calling for public comments on its standard titled \"Technical Specifications for Natural Gas-Hydrogen Blending Stations\" ；
【History of Haichuan Pipelines】Gansu Province’s first medium-to-long-distance hydrogen transport pipeline began construction at the Yumen Oilfield https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3328441-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Network – Chemical Flow of Haichuan)
In March this year, the high-level strategy for hydrogen energy was put into effect; the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the \"Medium- and Long-Term Plan for the Development of the Hydrogen Energy Industry (2021–2035)\". The plan calls for the implementation of pilot projects involving pipelines for hydrogen-blended natural gas as well as pipelines for pure hydrogen. With policy support, hydrogen energy is entering a period of rapid development. Since the beginning of this year, China has been taking continuous actions regarding the construction of hydrogen pipelines, and the development of such pipelines in the country is accelerating. The details are as follows.
Our country has a long history of exploration in the field of pipeline hydrogen transport. Due to properties such as low density and flammability/explosiveness, it is difficult to transport and store hydrogen safely and efficiently, which in turn results in high costs associated with its storage and transportation. Industry experts generally believe that merely the hydrogen storage and transportation sector has the potential to become a market worth hundreds of billions, with 30% of the future selling price of hydrogen at the end-user level being allocated to storage and transportation costs. At present, hydrogen pipelines in China are mainly distributed in regions such as the Bohai Bay area and the Yangtze River Delta ； The construction of pure hydrogen pipelines in our country is still in its initial stage, with a relatively small scale – approximately 400 kilometers in total. The pipelines that have been built are mainly used within chemical industrial parks. At the same time, hydrogen transmission pipelines in our country are mainly natural gas-hydrogen blended pipelines, and are moving towards pure hydrogen pipeline projects. According to incomplete global statistics on hydrogen energy, China’s hydrogen pipelines are as follows.
Data shows that the construction of hydrogen pipelines in our country started relatively late, but considerable experience has been accumulated in pipeline design, construction, operation, and maintenance for hydrogen industry pipelines and specialized pipelines. At present, China’s hydrogen industry is still in its infancy, and achieving self-sufficiency in the key core technologies across the entire industrial chain is crucial for the high-quality development of this industry. The storage and transportation phase is one of the bottlenecks restricting the development of hydrogen energy in China at present, and safe and efficient hydrogen transmission technologies are a prerequisite for the large-scale commercialization of hydrogen energy. Among all hydrogen transportation methods, pipeline transport is the most economical approach. Introducing hydrogen into existing natural gas pipelines and building new pipelines dedicated to transporting pure hydrogen are of great significance for the development of hydrogen storage and transportation. Under large-scale transportation, pipeline hydrogen transport offers significant cost advantages. Public information shows that when transporting hydrogen using 20MPa long tube trailers over a distance of 50 km, the transportation cost of hydrogen is approximately 4.9 yuan/kg ； As the transportation distance increases, the shipping cost for long-tube trailers rises gradually; at a distance of 500 km, the shipping cost is approximately 22 yuan/kg. In contrast, pipeline transportation of hydrogen on a large scale over long distances has greater advantages. According to calculations by relevant experts, when the transportation distance is 100 km, the cost of transporting hydrogen is 1.43 yuan/kg, which is much lower than that of high-pressure long-tube trailers and cryogenic liquid hydrogen transport. Therefore, for the same transportation distance, the cost of transporting hydrogen via pipelines is much lower than that of using high-pressure long tube trailers or cryogenic liquid hydrogen transport.
Zheng Jinyang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that there are mainly three challenges in the future of hydrogen pipeline transportation: first, key technologies, including low-cost, high-strength materials resistant to hydrogen embrittlement, as well as advanced design and manufacturing techniques for hydrogen pipelines； Second is the localization of related equipment, such as high-capacity compressors, as well as equipment and valves for hydrogen measurement, instruments, etc ； Third is **standards**, the standards for all aspects of hydrogen pipeline design, construction, operation, and maintenance. Furthermore, industry experts analyze that the cost of pipeline hydrogen is also greatly influenced by its utilization rate. Based on the calculations for various parameters of the domestic \"Jiyuan-Luoyang\" project (the actual length of pipelines in this project is 25 kilometers, with a total investment of 146 million yuan and an annual transport capacity of 100,400 tons), under full-load operation, when the transport distance is 100 kilometers, the cost of transporting hydrogen, taking into account pipeline depreciation and maintenance expenses, is 1.43 yuan/kg. However, when the utilization rate of the transport capacity is only 20%, the cost of transporting hydrogen via pipelines approaches 6.5 yuan/kg, which is similar to the cost of transporting hydrogen using long-distance tankers. Therefore, when demand for hydrogen downstream is sufficient to support large-scale hydrogen transportation, transporting hydrogen via pipelines is a reliable method to reduce costs. Data shows that by 2030, the hydrogen industry will become a new driver of economic growth in our country and an important part of the new energy strategy, with the length of high-pressure hydrogen pipelines reaching 3,000 km.
Guangdong Undersea Hydrogen-Enriched Pipeline Project: China’s first undersea pipeline for hydrogen enrichment, with a total length of 55 km. The hydrogen enrichment ratio is 20%, the designed annual hydrogen transport volume is 4 billion cubic meters, and the design pressure is 4 MPa.