20HyGrid project: Delgaz Grid begins, in customers’ homes, tests on the operation of installations and appliances with a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen

The Delgaz Grid company, a member of the E.ON Romania group, begins this month, in the town of Darlos, Sibiu county, tests with household customers, to verify the operation of indoor installations and existing appliances with a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen. For this purpose, the company has selected several dozen customers who live in the Sibiu town and who will thus be the first Romanians to participate in this project of national importance for the future of sustainable heating in Romania.

Consumer utility installations (pipes, utility devices, etc.) and distribution system components (pipes, connections, fittings, fittings, regulators, meters, etc.) will not be modified for this process.

“In the customers’ homes, we will practically replicate exactly what we did in the Medias training ground, with the existing installations and appliances, without any modification and under safe conditions. First, we will conduct a thorough check of the entire natural gas installation, including the appliances, to ensure that they are tight and functioning properly. We will also analyse the combustion gases. After this, we will shut off the natural gas supply, connect a ready-made natural gas (80%) and hydrogen (20%) mixture cylinder to the customer’s utility plant, and circulate this mixture through the plant and utility appliances. We will check the operating parameters and measure the concentration of combustion gases. Later, we will do the same when returning to natural gas, to assure the client that the appliances were not affected in any way by the mixture used”, explained Dr. Eng. Cristian Călin, gas technical manager, project coordinator.

The first test of this kind in the country has already been conducted by specialists from the project team, in Mureș County, at the home of one of the deputy general directors of the Delgaz Grid company.

“As I have observed at my house, there is no difference between the flame given by the natural gas supply and the one with a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas. We can cook on our stoves using hydrogen and we can produce hot water and heat in the cold season using the same plant. Practically, our comfort can be the same as that given by natural gas. It is important to remember that the use of this mixture helps to reduce carbon emissions, so to a less polluted environment, according to the values indicated by the flue gas analyser. A particularly important aspect is the fact that the use of the mixture is as safe as that of natural gas”, said Anca Evoiu, deputy general director of Delgaz Grid.

“We got to the first house with the mixture of natural gas and hydrogen. With this, we practically demonstrate that the mixture can be used without problems on current natural gas pipes and appliances. It is a first for Delgaz Grid and for Romania, which makes us confident in the future of hydrogen and its widespread use in our homes”, stated Cristian Secoşan (photo), the general director of Delgaz Grid.

The tests last a few hours, and after their completion, the supply of natural gas from the network will be resumed. At the end, Delgaz Grid specialists will once again check the natural gas installation, including the appliances, to make sure everything is working perfectly. The company will bear the cost of the utilities needed to perform the tests: natural gas, water, electricity.

Testing in real conditions with customers is the first part of the second stage of the 20HyGrid project, launched for the first time in Romania last fall, after the completion of the tests in Darlos. In August, tests will follow in the second locality selected by the company, namely Gornesti in Mures county – which will become the first locality in Romania with a steel network to be assessed.

Customer tests will be carried out by Delgaz Grid specialists who have acquired experience and certification in Germany, where they tested at DVGW/EBI (Der Deutsche Verein des Gas und Wasserfaches/EBI Engler Bunte Institute), a prestigious technical-scientific institution that operates at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, natural gas mixtures with different additions of hydrogen on different combustion systems: boilers, convectors, stoves, burners in heating and cooking stoves.

In stage 1, the company’s team of specialists assessed, for several weeks, at the company’s Professional Training Center in Medias, most of the existing types of appliances from six large producers of thermal power plants and stoves, partners of the project, which covers approximately 80% of the Romanian market, in the presence of their representatives.

Thermal power plants, stoves, convectors, hot water preparation devices, burners from cooking stoves, heating etc. were assessed. For example, tests were made both on existing thermal plants, older models, without condensation, installed before 2015, as well as on condensing plants, installed especially after 2015, respectively new generation devices, which are already prepared for a mixture with 20% hydrogen.

The results were as expected, with all appliances operating without any problem with a mixture of natural gas (80%) and hydrogen (20%).