New analytical challenges in hydrogen and sustainable fuels

Hydrogen is becoming increasingly important in the energy sector, but its growing use also brings new challenges for analytical laboratories. From using hydrogen as an alternative carrier gas in GC-MS to checking the purity of hydrogen destined for fuel cells, laboratories must adapt their analytical methods as the industry develops.

For laboratories considering switching from helium to hydrogen as a GC-MS carrier gas, Agilent and Markes have produced an online resource bundle covering some of the practical issues involved. Safeguarding GC-MS Workflows: A Practical Guide to Switching from Helium to Hydrogen Carrier Gas examines the considerations involved in making the change while maintaining reliable analytical performance.

The wider hydrogen resource also includes application notes covering a range of analytical requirements. These include hydrogen purity analysis, testing for permanent gases and hydrocarbon impurities, sulphur compound analysis in high-purity hydrogen and ammonia analysis for fuel-cell applications.

There is also guidance on fuel-cell-grade hydrogen testing and the use of Micro GC for hydrogen and natural gas analysis. The analytical requirements do not stop with hydrogen itself. As interest in lower-carbon fuels grows, laboratories are also having to deal with new fuel types and increasingly detailed compositional analysis.

One of the resources looks at hydrocarbon class analysis of conventional and synthetic aviation turbine fuels using ASTM D8396 and flow-modulated GC×GC-FID. With sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) expected to play a growing role in the aviation industry, analytical techniques capable of characterising both conventional and synthetic fuels will become increasingly relevant.

For laboratories already working with hydrogen, or those preparing for new applications in fuel cells, natural gas or sustainable fuels, having reliable analytical methods in place is an important part of the process. The resources from Agilent bring together practical information covering several of the techniques and applications emerging as the hydrogen and sustainable fuels industries develop.