BlendPATH: Blending Pipeline Analysis Tool for Hydrogen

NLR's Blending Pipeline Analysis Tool for Hydrogen (BlendPATH) model evaluates techno-economic impacts of expanding existing gas pipelines to transport additional natural gas or other fuels such as hydrogen.

Developed at NLR with support from the U.S. Department of Energy's HyBlend™ initiative, BlendPATH enables researchers, regulators, and industry professionals to rapidly evaluate the incremental capital investment and operating expenses associated with modifications to natural gas transmission pipeline networks. These modifications could be pursued to transport pipeline gas with a specific hydrogen content or deliver additional natural gas supplies to meet incremental end-user energy demand.

BlendPATH provides users with case-by-case techno-economic analysis capabilities to:

• Screen promising opportunities to transport incremental quantities of natural gas or alternative sources of gas through existing pipeline assets

• Identify potential pipeline network modifications and probable economic outcomes prior to investing in higher-cost assessments.

BlendPATH is designed for use during the initial pipeline project assessment stage, when model users have assembled records regarding pipeline design studies, inspections, repairs, and material characterization. It is intended to be used before detailed inspections and material property verification are conducted to qualify a transmission pipeline network to handle alternate gas supplies.

Capabilities

BlendPATH's core capabilities include:

• An isothermal pipeline network hydraulic model to estimate the steady-state operating conditions (i.e., pressure, gas velocity, and gas composition) for user-specified pipeline case studies

• Pipeline design segmentation and assessment methods that leverage industry standards such as ASME B31.12

• Automated pipeline design modification methods to adapt user-specified pipeline networks for operation with a desired gas composition or to meet incremental end-user energy demand

• Rapid economic and emissions estimates of pipeline network modifications (if required) and updated operating conditions resulting from BlendPATH scenario analysis.

The model gives users flexibility to define scenario-specific parameters for pipeline design assessment, pipeline equipment and operation costs, and project financing in addition to user-defined pipeline network case studies.

BlendPATH has been used to evaluate the natural gas transmission pipeline network design and cost impacts associated with transporting hydrogen-blended pipeline gas and with meeting gas demand growth in case studies representing:

• A high-capacity-factor natural gas transmission pipeline in the Midwest

• A gas transmission pipeline lateral supporting a baseload natural gas-fired power plant in Southern California

• A low-capacity-factor natural gas transmission pipeline in the Northeast.

Acknowledgments

Funding for the development and maintenance of BlendPATH is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office through the Pipeline Blending Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, a HyBlend project. The project is led by NLR with participation from Argonne National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and more than 30 partners in industry, nonprofits, and academia coordinated through the Pipeline Research Council International.

Publications

These publications document BlendPATH, the modeling framework, and case studies:

Techno-Economic Analysis of Repurposing Natural Gas Transmission Pipeline Networks to Accommodate Hydrogen Blends, Energy & Environmental Science (2026)

Blending Pipeline Analysis Tool for Hydrogen (BlendPATH) Documentation and User Manual, NLR Technical Report (2025)

BlendPATH (Blending Pipeline Analysis Tool for Hydrogen), NLR Software Record (2024)

HyBlend: Pipeline CRADA Cost and Emissions Analysis, NLR Presentation (2024)

Pipeline Blending CRADA Techno-Economic Analysis, NLR Presentation (2024).

These publications have informed the development of BlendPATH and ongoing analyses using the model:

Hydrogen Blending Into Natural Gas Pipeline Infrastructure: Review of the State of Technology, NLR Technical Report (2022)

Hydrogen Blending Into Natural Gas Pipelines, Sandia National Laboratories and NLR Presentation (2022).

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