Hydrogen

NiSource launches hydrogen blending project

The Indiana-based utility said it will continue to evaluate hydrogen-natural gas blends for other applications like power plants.
NiSource launches hydrogen blending project
(Source: NiSource.)

Indiana-based utility NiSource announced the launch of a multi-phase hydrogen blending project.

The company said the initiative would be one of the first in the U.S. to use a blending skid in a controlled setting to mix hydrogen and natural gas at precise levels to determine optimal blend percentages.

The project launch was celebrated Oct. 5 at the Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania Training Center’s Safety Town in Monaca, Pennsylvania, where the hydrogen blending skid was constructed.

Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, a NiSource subsidiary, partnered with EN Engineering to construct the skid, which allows for the controlled blending of hydrogen into Safety Town’s natural gas system at percentages ranging from two to 20 percent.

As part of the demonstration, NiSource built an onsite model home equipped with natural gas appliances to simulate everyday usage in a residential home environment. Ongoing field confirmations are being evaluated hydrogen’s effect on the natural gas itself, equipment, piping, and the net change in carbon emissions from blending, with favorable results.

While the project aims to explore how hydrogen can be blended to help decarbonize natural gas pipelines, NiSource said it will continue to evaluate the hydrogen-natural gas blends for other applications such as factories and power plants.

When combusted for power generation, hydrogen produces water vapor, not carbon emissions.

Based on the results and data collected, NiSource said future phases of the program could include the introduction of a hydrogen-blend into a live-gas environment using the company’s existing gas distribution infrastructure.