HOOPLA

The project aims to increase the use of environmentally neutral hydrogen in hydrogen mixtures in existing transportation and storage facilities used for natural gas and to describe the effect of previous processing history and surface treatments of the used materials on degradation in a hydrogen environment. This will increase the safety of transport of these mixtures and expand their use in the energy, engineering or transportation industries. In addition, replacing natural gas with hydrogen will reduce the use of fossil fuels, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to the achievement of a climate-neutral society by 2050.
For hydrogen storage to become a practical reality, hydrogens must be transported efficiently, reliably, and safely through gas pipelines. Unfortunately, most high-pressure gas and oil pipelines are composed of ferritic steels, which are known to be mechanically embrittled by atomic hydrogen. The materials used are also found in a cast or formed state, and after different heat treatments, so they contain different types of hydrogen traps that cause hydrogen embrittlement of the material. Improvements in material durability can also be achieved by surface treatment, e.g., by using cold spray technology. To make the whole experiment more efficient, data science will also be used to design a prediction model. The resulting consortium will lead to the support of the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan.