Why this matters now
As detailed in their recent article in H2Tech, Emerson’s Martin Johnson and Phani Kanakamedala, recognized industry experts, explain that interest in hydrogen is accelerating—and that keeping H₂ moving from producers to users requires security, reliability, and end-to-end integration across retrofit and greenfield pipelines.
- Cybersecurity is now central to pipeline operations; guidance and collaboration efforts are growing.
- Engineering for H₂ demands exacting specs; digital twins and leak detection improve reliability.
- Standardizing on an integrated platform reduces interfaces, data silos, and lifecycle complexity.
What must teams get right to keep H₂ moving?
Johnson and Kanakamedala emphasize four focus areas spanning retrofit and greenfield pipelines:
“keeping H2 moving through pipelines—whether retrofit or greenfield—means getting a few key things right. Successful organizations are focused on maintaining cybersecurity, product management, monitoring and safety, and end-to-end integration.”
Why is cybersecurity now a first-order concern for pipelines?
Pipelines can no longer rely on “security by obscurity.” Recent attention on critical infrastructure has prompted guidance and collaboration initiatives. For example:
“The U.S. Transportation Security Administration offered advice on how companies can better manage their pipelines. In addition, over 25 oil and gas organizations, with an emphasis on high-throughput midstream natural gas pipeline owner-operators and their industrial control systems vendors, convened through the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) to undertake the 2023 JCDC Pipelines Cyber Defense Planning Effort.”
Operationally, teams benefit from centralized credential and access management. Emerson’s DeltaV™ remote terminal units (RTU) can be updated via a credential management system—avoiding the need to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to visit and update each RTU manually. Pairing Active Directory with the DNP3 SAv5 protocol further streamlines secure administration across distributed assets.
Context resources: pipeline modernization overview • cybersecurity considerations
How should companies engineer pipelines specifically for hydrogen?
Hydrogen is highly flammable and diffusive, which calls for exacting specifications when building new pipelines or repurposing existing natural-gas lines. Many teams use digital twin simulation to validate designs and operating envelopes before deployment.
For leak detection, optimization, batch tracking, and hydraulic profiles, DeltaV PipelineManager™ generates real-time hydraulic data using pressures, temperatures, flow rate, and line pack—enabling reliable leak localization and greater operating confidence.
Why standardize on an integrated platform across the H₂ value chain?
Fragmented platforms multiply custom interfaces and create data silos that block end-to-end visibility. Johnson and Kanakamedala note:
“When companies use a wide array of different automation platforms, complexity increases across the entire solution. They must not only manage a wide variety of custom engineered interfaces between different systems, but they also typically create silos of data which make it difficult or impossible to gain visibility across the entire value chain.”
Standardizing tools within an integrated ecosystem like Emerson’s enterprise operations platform (EOP) helps reduce interfaces, preserve context, and simplify planning, measurement, monitoring, reliability, scheduling, and order-to-cash—while providing a more seamless user experience throughout the H₂ chain.
What does adoption look like from here?
Hydrogen momentum is growing across power and mobility applications. Practical, lifecycle-ready software and automation exist today, and are easier to implement than ever. For broader context on H₂ adoption and operations, see Emerson’s H₂ insights and grid flexibility with H₂.
