Hydrogen bending in natural gas to reduce the greenhouse gas emission is the new pilot project runs by the government. But is this project really has the potential reduce the greenhouse gas emission or is just an experiment like smoke towers. I have tried to simply this concept so can ready can understand this project and its impact on environment. And how the technology cannot be the only solution for every problem. Please download the PPT for better experience.

1. Hydrogen Blended Natural Gas
SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT

2. What is Hydrogen-blended natural gas?
Hydrogen-blended natural gas is a new concept introduce to reduce the green house gas (CO2)
emission from the combustion of Natural Gas (NG). In this process the hydrogen is compressed
and blended into the natural gas pipelines in order to reduce the carbon percentage in per cubic
meter of CNG or PNG.
So, the concept of Hydrogen-blended natural gas is introduced to reduce the carbon emission
into the atmosphere.
Wow it seems to be a great idea! But is it really be ?
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3. Let’s 1st understand how hydrogen is made?
Hydrogen in free form found in very meniscal quantity on earth so to produce H2 gas Hydrogen is
separated from the molecules of other elements and the most common methods of producing
hydrogen includes steam-methane reforming and electrolysis.
1) Steam- Methane reforming : Today most of the commercial available hydrogen is produced by
using this technique. In this process a high-temperature steam (700 0C – 1000 0C) under 3-25 bar
pressure reacts with Natural Gas (CH4) in the presence of nickel as a catalyst to produce H2
CH4 + H2O (+ large amount of heat) → CO + 3H2
CO + H2O → CO2 + H2 (+ small amount of heat)
But, this process is not eco-friendly as it is using a green house gas CH4 to produce H2
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4. Electrolysis
2) Electrolysis: In this Process hydrogen is produce by separating it from water by using electric
current.
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5. Thinking Time
Since the goal of producing Hydrogen-blended natural gas is to reduce the net green house gas
(CO2)emission in the atmosphere, so utilizing the hydrogen produce by steam- methane
reforming process for the blending purposes will not help to achieve this goal as the methane
(NG) itself is used in this technique of producing H2 and the by product of this process is again
CO2 .
So, the concept of Hydrogen-blended natural gas will be successful in achieving its goal when the
hydrogen used in the bending process shall be produced by electrolysis.
But wait a minute, Electrolysis involve the use of electricity to produce the hydrogen and the
majority of electricity is produce by thermal power plants which uses coal. So, do electrolysis is
also not an eco-friendly technique to produce hydrogen ?
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6. Green Hydrogen
So the electrolysis technique can only be helpful in supporting the goal behind introducing the
“Hydrogen- Blended Natural Gas” if the electricity used in electrolysis process is produce from
the renewable sources.
Image Source: https://www.gettyimagesbank.com/
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7. Woopeee…..
So, now we can say that “Hydrogen-blended natural gas” can reduce the CO2 emissions caused by
combustion of CNG or PNG if the hydrogen used in blending is produce by electrolysis of water
using renewable source of energy.
Just a second,
There is an another question popping up.
Do the Calorific Value of Hydrogen-blended natural gas will remain same as the Calorific value of
Natural Gas?
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8. Comparison of calorific value
Calorific Value as we know is the amount of heat energy generated on the complete combustion
of a unit mass or unit volume of a substance.
Sr.
No.
Fuel Calorific Value
(per unit mass)
Calorific Value
(per unit volume)
1 Hydrogen (H2) 150 MJ/Kg 12.56 MJ/Cu.m
2 Natural Gas 50 MJ/kg 45 MJ/Cu.m.
So, as we can see the calorific value of H2 per unit mass is more than the natural gas, but the
energy per unit volume of natural gas is more than the H2 and since we measure gases in volume,
Can we say that the hydrogen blending in natural reduces the calorific value of Natural Gas ?
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9. Effect of blending on calorific value
Sr. No. Methane % Hydrogen % Calorific value
(MJ/cu.m.)
1 100% 0 45
2 95% 5% 43.38
3 90% 10% 41.76
4 80% 20% 38.51
5 60% 40% 32.02
6 40% 60% 25.54
7 20% 80% 19.05
8 10% 90% 15.80
9 0 100% 12.56
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10. Thinking Time
So, now it is clear that by hydrogen blending the calorific value of the gas decreases, but it is
reducing the carbon content in the natural gas mixture which eventually reduce the amount of
CO2 emission on burning.
But wait a minute, is the percentage reduction in CO2 emission is really significant in this
process, which can justify this compromise in calorific value ?
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11. Effect of blending on CO2 emission
Lets, understand it by taking a example:
Say a furnace in a industry requires 50,000 KJ/h of heat to produce a product.
If this furnace use pure Natural Gas (CH4) as a fuel then it will require =
50,000 KJ/h
45∗1000
KJ
m3
= 1.11 Cu.m./hr of methane,
Which will eventual produce 2.72 kg of CO2 on combustion.
While, if the same furnace will use 20% hydrogen blended natural gas as a fuel to produce the
same amount of energy than it will require =
50,000 𝐾𝐽/ℎ
38.51∗1000
𝐾𝐽
𝑚3
= 1.3 Cu.m./hr of Hydrogen-blended NG,
Which will produce 2.57 Kg of CO2 on combustion.
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12. Thinking Time
So, now we have reach to our conclusion of understanding the effect of hydrogen blending with
natural gas.
The results of the slide No. 9 and 11 shows that,
Blending composition % Reduction in Calorific Value
from pure methane
% Reduction in Co2 from
pure methane
20% Hydrogen blended Natural Gas 14.4 % 5.5 %
So, now we can conclude here that hydrogen blending in NG can reduce the CO2 emission but the
Percentage reduction is insignificant comparing to the reduction in calorific value of the fuel.
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13. So is this a bad idea ?
In my opinion it is a bad idea. We can see in the last slide the percentage of CO2 reduction
possible from this project is only 5% and that is when we have not considered the carbon
footprint involve in the setuping of unit and energy losses occurs during the production of
electricity for hydrolysis and hydrogen blending.
So, If we considered these cumulative impacts the actual percentage of CO2 reducing may comes
down to 2% corresponds to 14% reduction in the calorific value.
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14. Is there any better idea ?
Yes, and that is not as sophisticated as hydrogen blending, today we have developed a mindset
where we think technology is the only solution for every problem, but the truth is it is not.
Like detergent can’t be used to clean every type of stains from the cloth like wise technology is
not the solution for every problem on the earth.
So instead on focusing on upon the technologies to reduce CO2 emission we can think of the ways
for capturing the CO2 generated.
Afforestation is the best way by which we can solve most of our environmental problems.
It is not a complex technology but it is the way of restoration and I strongly believe that,
“The time now is not to develop but to restore what is being destroyed”.
©Abhishek padiyar
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15. Plant a tree not just because it is good to do but because it is necessary for you _