Study on the Leakage and Diffusion Characteristics of Buried Hydrogen-Blended Natural Gas Pipelines

Abstract Utilizing existing natural gas pipelines to transport hydrogen-blended natural gas is a primary strategy for achieving cost-effective, long-distance, and large-scale hydrogen transportation. However, blending hydrogen with natural gas alters its physical properties, resulting in changes in leakage and diffusion characteristics and the affected range. To illustrate this, we focus on the Jingxi Third Line natural gas long-distance pipeline and develop a buried hydrogen blended natural gas pipeline model to analyze the concentration distribution of hydrogen-blended natural gas and the temporal variation of gas velocity at the leakage point. We explore the influence of various factors, including pressure, leak orifice size, wind speed, and hydrogen-blending ratio, on the diffusion range of hydrogen-blended natural gas. The research findings demonstrate that in the vicinity of the leakage point, the methane concentration significantly exceeds the upper explosive limit while the hydrogen concentration remains within the explosive limit range. The hazardous range of hydrogen-blended natural gas leakage and diffusion is slightly larger than that of natural gas alone. Furthermore, both the vertical and horizontal hazardous ranges of hydrogen-blended natural gas leakage and diffusion exhibit positive correlations with pressure and leak orifice size. Additionally, as wind speed increases, the maximum impact distance in the vertical direction gradually decreases, while it gradually increases in the horizontal direction.