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Projects: Projects for Investigator
Reference Number	NIA_CAD0082
Title	Use of Automatic Isolation Valve (AIV) Systems with Hydrogen – AIVs in LP and MP Services
Status	Completed
Energy Categories	Fossil Fuels: Oil Gas and Coal(Oil and Gas, Refining, transport and storage of oil and gas) 10%; Hydrogen and Fuel Cells(Hydrogen, Hydrogen transport and distribution) 90%;
Research Types	Applied Research and Development 100%
Science and Technology Fields	ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering) 100%
UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation	Not Cross-cutting 100%
Principal Investigator	Project Contact No email address given Cadent Central
Award Type	Network Innovation Allowance
Funding Source	Ofgem
Start Date	01 August 2022
End Date	31 August 2023
Duration	ENA months
Total Grant Value	£300,000
Industrial Sectors	Energy
Region	West Midlands
Programme	Network Innovation Allowance
Investigators	Principal Investigator	Project Contact , Cadent Central (99.996%)
	Other Investigator	Project Contact , Cadent Eastern (0.001%) Project Contact , Cadent North London (0.001%) Project Contact , Cadent North West (0.001%) Project Contact , Cadent West Midlands (0.001%)
	Industrial Collaborator	Project Contact , Wales and West Utilities (0.000%) Project Contact , Northern Gas Networks (0.000%) Project Contact , Cadent Gas (0.000%) Project Contact , SGN (0.000%)
Web Site	https://smarter.energynetworks.org/projects/NIA_CAD0082
Objectives	This project is a mixture of understanding current evidence, identifying additional research to fill evidence gaps, and then using existing and new evidence to specify, design, and develop a product that delivers the safety function required by the evidence.The project will use the following methods to answer the evidence lines: Base Line Report/Literature Review: The initial phase will involve a review of scoping work carried out by SGN and with reference to AIVs in IGEM/UP/2 which needs extended to include hydrogen.Production of Tender Documents: Based on initial review a draft specification will be used to seek potential suppliers to demonstrate three competitive AIV systems suitable for commercial and industrial gas users.Installation and Demonstration: The main aim of the project will be to demonstrate three complex AIV installations, including the relative position of hydrogen sensors and other critical system interfaces. Must be able to demonstrate the full functionality of the off systems with hydrogen, including advanced interlocking with extraction systems and combustion devices as necessary.Risk Assessment Impact: Consolidate the evidence and include in the safety case to provide further clarification of risk mitigation potential for AIVs for any/all commercial buildings included in the trial safety case. It will be important to identify the limitations of operation in commercial environments, including boundary conditions for the safe use of AIVs.Support for Modification of IGEM/UP/2: Considering the learnings from the work, provision of guidance to IGEM on the use of AIV systems to reduce the risk of hydrogen use in commercial and industrial premises is required.Project delivery will be supported by hiring professional organisations to support Cadent on the project. Much of the work will involve physical testing in a laboratory environment so it is important that any organisation involved has the test facilities to fulfil the project requirements. This project is undertaken in 5 work packages, which are: Work Package 1: This first phase will involve looking at all the possible requirements that an AIV will have to meet in hydrogen service. These will be determined through discussions with HSE, consideration to required tightness, impact of building use etc. and a market survey/literature review of available products on the market. Once all requirements have been identified, a draft technical specification for AIV system functionality will be produced and used as the basis to invite OEMs to put forward equipment to be used in the later testing phase. The specification will cover both gas system proving and shutdown in the event of gas detection or other hazardous occurrences in a building.  This draft technical specification, along with the literature review and procedure for detector siting, should be shared with the GDNs, ENA and key stakeholder groups.  Work Package 2: Once the literature review/market analysis and draft specification have been completed in Work Package 1, Work Package 2 involves taking 3 of the preferred suppliers, scored against a clear selection criterion, and placing orders for equipment that best match the technical specification. It is likely that a gap will exist between what is available on the market and the technical specification. In this event, weighting factors will be added to the selection criteria, informed by the activities of Work Package 1, to ensure that an objective way of selecting suppliers is presented.  A note of caution is that, due to the nascent nature of the hydrogen market, suppliers may need pro-active encouragement from both Cadent and contractors to submit tenders. Input from GDNs, ENA and key stakeholder groups will help to ease this task, demonstrating the scale of the commitment to the work.  Work Package 3: In Work Package 3, thorough development and testing will take place on the preferred suppliers equipment. It is anticipated that some suppliers may be using existing natural gas qualified products, so further development or test work may be required for some to use with hydrogen. Minor development may be required for specific application requirements; however, it is believed that the real challenge will be for system integration of components from different OEMs. Stage 2 of the Village Trial concludes at the end of March. An interim report will be shared with HSE/BEIS ahead of this to describe the build and delivery phase to date, including longevity data. If any of the systems are available “off-the-shelf”, every endeavour will be made to include test data in this interim report, ensuring HSE/BEIS have a more substantial bank of evidence to inform their Stage 3 decision.   As this Work Package is likely to extend beyond the March deadline, the report will be updated and re-issued at the end of the build phase. Work Package 4: This work package focuses in on the delivery of three sets of equipment with appropriate validation documentation. The test programme will have been designed to address all possible evidence questions, mimicking real situations using suitable hardware with detectors placed in an environment where hydrogen concentration can be accurately controlled. Correct functioning of the AIV and interlocks with ventilation systems will be proved along with other evidence questions. It could be envisaged that further testing could be recommended out with this project – GDNs, HSE and key stakeholder groups will assess whether this is a requirement to enable a Village Trial, or whether this can be managed as a risk at this stage. Wherever possible, testing and certification to standards harmonised under or aligned with the Gas Appliance Regulation should be preferred as the level of rigour in these standards is perhaps greatest. Due consideration to the relevant standards will be made during the literature review and referenced in the technical specification from Work Package 1.  The key deliverable from this Work Package will be a report informing of the three systems performance in the test programme, an assessment of the System Integrity Level (SIL) rating of the systems, a comparison between them and commentary on longevity evidence supplied by the OEMs.  Work Package 5: The overall aim of this project will be to have proved that an AIV system is a suitable mitigation strategy for commercial and industrial premises. This is seen as especially important as excess flow valves (EFVs) may not be suitable for larger commercial and industrial applications.  This work package is dedicated to compiling all evidence gathered in previous work packages to produce an overall report on the suitability of Automatic Isolation Valve systems for hydrogen use in commercial installations where peak demand is above 20m3/h or 67kW. This will be shared with GDNs, key stakeholders, and the HSE Energy Review Groups who will advise whether evidence gathered in this project is sufficient to support the Build and Prepare stage of the Village Trial. The objectives of the project are as follows:- Provide evidence that an AIV system is a suitable mitigation strategy for commercial premises- Define the threshold valve tightness/leak rate of AIVs in hydrogen service.- Determine the optimum AIV system design according to specific building use – consideration given to where hydrogen detection sensors should be located.Update IGEM/UP/2 Standard to include proven hydrogen AIV systems.
Abstract	This project will gather safety evidence to support the delivery of a Village Trial of hydrogen gas supply. While the Village Trial is the principal focus of this study, the works will provide output to investigate and confirm the suitability of using an AIV system. This is not just the valves themselves, but the hydrogen monitoring sensors and how the system interacts as a whole, to protect a hydrogen trial commercial installation between 67-100 kW. The project will also consider larger low pressure and medium pressure applications and provide evidence that the use of an AIV system is an appropriate mitigation strategy for commercial applications at any scale.
Publications	(none)
Final Report	(none)
Added to Database	14/10/22