The Challenge
A leading supplier of Synchronous Condensers secured a new turnkey project and needed a hydrogen gas supply system to charge the condensers’ cooling systems. The prime safety concern for the system was ensuring it could be purged in and out of service without hydrogen mixing with air, as this would create an explosive mixture. Hale Hamilton was contracted with designing a system which could be safely charged with hydrogen, monitored during operation, and could be safely purged of hydrogen, bringing the condenser to a safe state when maintenance was required and could be undertaken before re-commissioning the system back to use.
Our Solution
Our system designers worked with the client to establish a process design that would use CO2 to purge hydrogen from the condenser and then use air to purge CO2 from the condenser, making it safe to maintain.
A gas delivery system was designed and built to take cylinder storage pressure down to injection pressure with an integrated heater system to ensure the gas delivery temperature was maintained at the correct level. A compressor system was utilised to supply air, and a Gas Distribution panel (right) was used to charge, vent and continuously analyse the gas. All pressure control equipment utilised Hale Hamilton pressure regulators, valves, filters and pressure relief devices.
The whole system was factory acceptance tested at our facility in Uxbridge, UK, and commissioning assistance was provided at the client site to ensure its successful implementation.