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PETROMAKS2-Stort program petroleum

Deep Purple - H2Subsea - Undervanns infrastruktur for lagring og distribusjon av Hydrogen

Alternative title: Deep Purple - H2Subsea - Subsea infrastructure for storage and distribution of Hydrogen

Awarded: NOK 9.6 mill.

H2SubSea builds on the work from Deep Purple phase 2 where the concept was developed for TRL 5. The work started with identifying the capabilities of various suppliers, and institutes for material testing that satisfy Deep Purple's requirements. A design concept for underwater hydrogen storage was defined and good solutions have been found for efficient assembly and installation by performing analysis and collaboration with suppliers and manufacturers. We have also performed material qualification of hydrogen tanks which is integrated into the hydrogen storage module concept. The materials have been tested in the relevant environment over a long period of time to compare the knock-down factors compared to dry material samples. The tests in the relevant environment are performed by ensuring that the material samples are saturated with water during the entire test. The results show that the material has good properties to be suitable for the underwater environment. In addition, several tests have been carried out on scaled prototypes to understand how the material utilization changes with upscaling. We have now carried out sufficient testing to be ready for an underwater demo project for the tanks. For the subsea connection systems, preliminary tests have been carried out with helium, and technical solutions have been found very promising. The solutions are flexible to cover the various Deep Purple-the applications. The qualification program was defined and planned to start in early 2021. One of the key challenges was to find a suitable test setup that could simulate the environment in a safe way. In dialogue with several experts within hydrogen safety, we found out that our own test facillities were the best starting point for carrying out the testing. Towards the end of 2022,the qualification tests completed with good results. We can now claim that we have developed and qualified a connection system that is ready for a demo project underwater. For hydrogen infrastructure and risers, the various Deep Purple applications have been analyzed, and technical concepts and pipe dimensions have been identified based on different distances, pressures,massage rates and need for the various Deep Purple-the applications. This work has provided important input to define a complete solution catalog. The solution catalog will include flexible and permanent subsea pipe installations for use offshore and inshore, as well as offshore risers. After this, work began on detailing the qualification program for each individual solution to be ready for kick off by the end of Q1 2021 where the qualification activities were started. The solutions include dimensions from 1 inch and up to 8 inch pipelines for short to medium distance infrastructure and risers. For transport pipes, pipe dimensions from 8 and larger were defined. For the smallest dimensions, we chose to develop and qualify hydrogen hoses which can be used individually or bundled in an umbilical together with, for example, power and communication lines for control systems needed for a subsea storage, or for offshore wind with hydrogen production. For the umbilical and hose solution, accelerated lifetime tests have been carried out for all metallic and non-metallic materials that may be exposed to hydrogen. The tests have shown that most of the materials have good properties. For the materials that failed, we have found and tested alternatives that performs vell For medium dimensions, we chose to develop and qualify flexible unbonded pipe. These products can cover dimensions from 2 inches and potentially in the future up to 19 inches. Nevertheless, we see that 8 inches has a good capacity to transport large quantities of hydrogen with minimal pressure drop for the use cases we have identified. The solution will cover subsea to subsea pipelines with lengths of up to approx. 10 km, or risers for fixed or floating installations with a hydrogen production plant. The product has been through an extensive qualification program starting with the materials with the highest risk being tested first. Subsequently, low-risk materials have been tested. The testing has revealed that we need different material combinations when the product is used as a dynamic riser for an offshore floating structure. We have now carried out lab tests on materials in a simulated environment which show that this is a solution that is well suited to hydrogen and enables us to go to the next step of delivering a product for demonstration in an actual environment. The project has significantly reduced the technical risk of technology for subsea hydrogen infrastructure and storage, and is now ready for further development of the products towards coastal demonstration projects

H2SubSea prosjektet har gjort det mulig å kvalifisere til samt motta støtte fra Grønn Platform for å gjennomføre et demonstasjonsprosjekt av subsea hydrogenlager i Hardanger. Subsea hydrogenlager i Hardanger er identifisert som en unik mulighet for å kunne gi stabil tilførsel av hydrogen til industri og maritim sektor. Hardanger har industri som representere et av Norges største punktutslipp for CO2. Hvis prosjektene lykkes, vil Hardanger bli en Hydrogen Hub, og man kan realisere grønn indistri og bygge unik kompetanse i Norge som vil ha betydelig eksportverdi i fremtiden.

Deep Purple teknologien kombinerer havvind med hydrogenteknologier for å levere stabil og fornybar energi til forbrukere i havrommet. Teknologien muliggjør selvstendig leveranse av kraft til offshore installsjoner og for leveranse av hydrogen til maritim sektor og andre landbaserte forbrukere. Sentralt i innovasjonen er et storskala sesonglager med hydrogen på havbunnen samt undervanns infrastruktur for transport og lagring av hydrogen. Et undervanns hydrogenlager er også forventet å ha anvendelse for lokal lagring av hydrogen i havneområder som vil muliggjøre lagring av store mengder energi i god avstand fra menneskelig aktivitet, samt bidra til å løse arealutfordinger på land. Deep Purple H2Subsea-prosjektets mål er å etablere og kvalifisere undervanns hydrogenlager, hydrogenrørledning og hydrogenstigerør som grunnlag for å kommersialisere et komplett Deep Purple-anlegg. Kvalifikasjonsarbeidet vil fokusere på materialvalg for trykksatt hydrogen kombinert med miljøpåvirkning fra sjøvann på utsiden. Resultatene fra prosjektet vil danne grunnlag for å pilotere hele Deep Purple løsningen i mellomstor skala.

Funding scheme:

PETROMAKS2-Stort program petroleum