Pre-Normative Research on hydrogen odorisation: enhancing safety and detection along the hydrogen value chain

Expected Outcome:In the European Union, depending on the Member State, natural gas is odorised, primarily for safety reasons, according to ISO16922[1]. This standard provides guidelines for odorising natural gas and other methane rich gases. However, with a switch to hydrogen, new risk mitigation strategies need to be developed or existing adapted.With the switch from natural gas to 100 % hydrogen, especially in hard-to-abate industries, safety measures have to be established. Historically, odorisation proved to be an easy applicable safety measure.Due to different requirements for hydrogen, such as purity and physical properties of the molecule, different odorants have to be used for hydrogen than the ones currently used for natural gas. Therefore, odorants, that are non-toxic and environmentally benign and that provide sufficient olfactory warning, need to be developed and tested. The olfactometric properties should be similar to what is already known and trigger a similar reaction as to natural gas. Especially with sensitive end-users in mind, possible de-odorisation might be needed as well, if the applied odorant is not tolerated by the end-use applications.A thorough data analysis based on literature as well as already conducted research, such as for example Ready4H2[2], Hy4heat[3], Met4H2[4], sets the basis for testing new and old odorants. The focus should be on the odorant in hydrogen, for example masking effects, degradation and other technical aspects.Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following outcomes:Providing data on different odorants or chemical families of odorants to regulatory bodies to ensure that hydrogen gas grids and appliances meet safety and performance standards throughout the European Union, including the tolerance of materials used that come in touch with odorants (and its degradation products if any);Harmonised standards and guidelines to reduce over-conservatism and ensure consistent safety measures;Standard metho