Reducing helium dependency in gas chromatography for natural gas blends with hydrogen

The transition toward blending hydrogen in natural gas networks requires a new generation of gas chromatographs, capable of accurately measuring hydrogen. At the same time, the ongoing helium shortage highlights the need to reduce helium consumption in gas chromatography. This research evaluates the analytical performance of the DynamiQ-X NG2220 micro gas chromatograph using three carrier gas combinations: helium-argon, hydrogen-argon and argon alone. Ten natural gas blends containing up to 20% hydrogen were measured to assess calorific value accuracy, limits of detection, and overall performance in accordance with OIML R140 and ISO 10723. All carrier gas combinations produced calorific values within the limits of OIML R140 accuracy class A. Operation with argon as the only carrier gas showed lower detector response and therefore higher limits of detection but remained suitable for fiscal metering ranges. Carrier gas consumption was low for all methods, and replacing helium with a hydrogen or argon can save approximately 19.2 litres of helium per day during continuous operation. Overall, the DynamiQ-X NG2220 demonstrated reliable performance with all tested carrier gases without needing any hardware changes, supporting the use of hydrogen or argon as viable alternatives to helium for online monitoring of natural gas blends with hydrogen.