VALVE MAGAZINE Summer 2024

HYDROGEN GENERATION

HYDROGEN GENERATION Moving from Fossil Fuels to a Hydrogen Economy Manufacturers, standards organizations and industry are collaborating to accelerate hydrogen as a replacement fuel to power our grid and our economy. The Valve Manufacturers Association held its rst Hydrogen Valve Summit this spring in Houston, Texas. Speakers from across the industry presented on the oppor tunities as well as the challenges faced not only in the U.S. but around the world as we phase out fossil fuels for renew ables, particularly hydrogen solutions. Many experts say we must move faster to decarbonize to meet the goals stated by world leaders. With a stated goal of decarbonizing the U.S. electrical grid by , at today’s rate we’ll need three times the overall generation capacity compared to . Annual solar and wind deployments must occur at four times the current rates, and , miles of new high voltage transmission lines must be installed. For reference, only miles of lines were built in the U.S. in . The carbon footprint of hydrogen is more than just production. Energy is used to convert the input material to hydrogen, as well as to compress or liquify it and to trans port it via truck or rail and pipeline. Liqui cation makes transporting and storing hydrogen much more e cient as it is x denser in liquid form than in gaseous form, occupying only ⁄ of its original volume in gas form. This makes storage and transportation more e cient and elimi nates the need for new pipeline construction where it isn’t feasible. It can be converted back to gas later to be processed as an energy source. All these factors must be considered BY: HEATHER GAYNOR, Editor-in-Chief COMPANY: VALVE MEDIA

Source: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

when looking at the full impact of hydrogen production as the world moves away from traditional fossil fuels and to greener energy solutions. But production isn’t the only hurdle to building a fully renewable grid. Intermittency, storage, permitting, genera tion and transmission capacity, grid connections, workforce and lead times to production also factor into the equation. Testing is also underway to learn more about how the compo nents that make up the grid and infrastructure will behave in hydrogen service. This includes metallurgical studies, leak tests and temperature tests as hydrogen must be transported at very low temperatures. While components are generally compatible with hydrogen, a lot still needs to be learned. Curbing Emissions Today, it’s estimated that more than percent of emission in the U.S. come from heat generated by electricity, espe cially in large scale and non-conductive applications that don’t work with today’s technology. Even with a fully decarbonized electrical grid, high-heat applications require a faster and more e ective decarbonization solution. To address this, a heating fuel is required that won’t emit CO or other greenhouse gases, and clean hydrogen o ers a very promising future. Companies around the world that are exploring every aspect of decarbonization and greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Those working in clean hydrogen and moving toward hydrogen-based energy sources both for electrical grids and even for vehicles are making great strides. This article will discuss speci c ideas shared at the forum, as well as highlight work being done by organizations globally

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VALVE MAGAZINE

SUMMER 2024