INFLUENCE OF HYDROGEN-METHANE GAS MIXTURES ON THE PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL STRUCTURE OF POLYETHYLENE PIPES OF THE OPERATING GAS-DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS OF UKRAINE.

The work is a study of the influence of mixtures of gaseous hydrogen with natural gas with the ratios of 10 % H₂/90 % CH₄ and 20 % H₂ /80 % CH₄ on PE-80 polymer pipes. The paper presents the results of complex structural investigations of the material of polyethylene pipes from pe-80, which were used earlier in the operating gas distribution networks of ukraine, after 6 months of their hydrogenation. The influence of gas mixtures on the material structure was established, which is manifested in reduction of the quantity of the crystalline phase, polyethylene crystallite dimensions and their orderliness. no changes in the chemical structure of the polyethylene pipe material were found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]