26 October, 2026
Ready4H2 recently held a webinar with project partner GERG to share the results of the CANDHy project. Lidia Martínez Izquierdo, R&D Coordinator at Aragon Hydrogen Foundation presented. The project is coming to an end after 3 years assessing the level of readiness of non-steel metallic materials in current gas grids when exposed to hydrogen. The research has provided a better understanding of the behaviour of non-steel metallic materials in hydrogen environments, supporting the safe and reliable repurposing of existing gas infrastructure for hydrogen transport and distribution.
Results show that exposure to hydrogen has a limited effect on vintage ductile iron, whereas the new ductile iron exhibits slightly higher susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement, highlighting the influence of microstructure on material behaviour. Although hydrogen exposure leads to some degradation in fracture toughness, the overall toughness remained at a relatively high level. The consistency of SSRT and fracture toughness results across laboratories demonstrates the reproducibility and reliability of the testing programme. A second testing campaign has been completed, including additional materials such as grey cast iron and brass, the results of which are currently being analysed.
The project has developed a database compiling the results obtained throughout the project, focussing on metallic materials other than steel. This will be made public on the CANDHy website.
Ludovico Mazzocco, GERG project officer in charge of the communication for the project, shared the details of the final CANDHy workshop to be held in Brussels on November 4th: CandHy Final Workshop. The workshop is open to all.
