Safe pipelines for hydrogen transport

Abstract

The hydrogen compatibility of two X65 pipeline steels for transport of hydrogen gas is investigated through microstructural characterization, hydrogen permeation measurements and fracture mechanical testing. The investigated materials are a quenched and tempered pipeline steel with a fine-grained homogeneously distributed ferrite-bainite microstructure, and hot rolled pipeline steel with a ferrite-pearlite banded microstructure. All tests are performed both under electrochemical and gaseous hydrogen charging conditions. A correlation between electrochemical hydrogen charging and gaseous charging is determined. The results point to inherent differences in the interaction between hydrogen and the two material microstructures. Further research is needed to unveil the influence of material microstructure on hydrogen embrittlement.