PAO "TMK", Pervouralsk, Russia

N. A. Devyaterikova, Chief Specialist, Center for Industrial Pipes, e-mail: n.devyaterikova@tmk-group.com
K. A. Laev, Cand. Eng., Chief Specialist, Center for Industrial Pipe

Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg, Russia
A. S. Tsvetkov, Cand. Eng., Head of the Testing Laboratory of the Scientific and Technological Complex “New Technologies and Materials” of the Advanced Engineering School “Digital Engineering”
S. E. Dagaev, Engineer of the Testing Laboratory of the Scientific and Technological Complex “New Technologies and Materials” of the Advanced Engineering School “Digital Engineering”

To assess the suitability of welded pipes for hydrogen transportation, pipe steel of grades X52 and X70 (manufactured by TMK), which are widely used for main gas pipelines, were examined. Tests in hydrogen gas at 10 MPa included tensile test at a slow strain rate and determination of the level of threshold stress intensity factor (KIH), and a disk fracture test with gradually increasing hydrogen pressure was also performed. Besides base material, submerged arc welds have been tested. Three types of complementary tests provided the most complete picture of the effect of hydrogen on the properties of steels: change in plastic properties (SSRT), evaluation of resistance to crack development (KIH determination), and change in strength properties (disk test). According to SSRT test results, X52 and X70 show a trend of moderate ductility reduction but high resistance to crack development in hydrogen environment: all obtained KIH values for base metal, weld metal and heat-affected zone are above the requirements of ASME B 31.12. Disk tests indicate that hydrogen embrittlement is only possible with long-term exposure. In general, the investigated steels X52, X70 on the totality of the obtained test results show satisfactory resistance to the action of gaseous hydrogen as the base metal and welded joint, which indicates the possibility of using Russian-made pipes for hydrogen transportation.
The work was attended by A. G. Nikolaeva, engineer of the Testing Laboratory of STC “New Technologies and Materials”, AES “Digital Engineering”, Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education “SPbPU”.
The research was carried out at the Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education "SPbPU".
The research was carried out by PAO TMK and Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University with partial financial support from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation as part of the program of the World-Class Scientific Center: Advanced Digital Technologies (contract No. 075-15-2022-311 dated April 20, 2022).

1. Trögerq M., Boschq C., Wiartw J.-N., Meusere H. et al. Investigations on hydrogen assisted cracking of welded high-strength pipes in gaseous hydrogen. Steely hydrogen conference proceedings. 2014. pp. 491–501.
2. IGC DOC 121:2014. Hydrogen pipeline systems. Available at: https://eiga.eu ct_documents/doc121-pdf/ (accessed: 26.09.2023).
3. ASME B 31.12:2019. Hydrogen piping and pipelines. Available at: https://www.asme.org/codesstandards/find-codes-standards/b31-12-hydrogen-piping-pipelines (accessed: 26.09.2023).
4. Hydrogen certified pipes: X70M high grade HFW pipes succeed in qualification tests for hydrogen (ASME CODE). Available at: https://www.cpw.gr/userfiles/35139e87-7c73-4e25-b508-a42500e476ab/H2-CPW-newsletter-final.pdf (accessed: 26.09.2023).
5. Shaposhnikov N. O., Tsvetkov A. S., Strekalovskaya D. A., Nikolaeva A., Devyaterikova N. A. Physical modeling of steel resistance to hydrogen embrittlement. Key Engineering Materials. 2023. Vol. 943. pp. 91–96. DOI: 10.4028/p-g4pg69
6. Briottet L., Moro I., Lemoine P. Quantifying the hydrogen embrittlement of pipeline steels for safety considerations. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. 2012. Vol. 37. pp. 17616–17623. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2012.05.143
7. Tsvetkov A. S., Shaposhnikov N. O., Yakhimovich V. A., Kurakin M. K., Lapechenkov A. A. Technological support for evaluation of hydrogen compatibility of materials in laboratory conditions. Key Engineering Materials. 2023. Vol. 943. pp. 85–89. DOI: 10.4028/p-dxest6
8. Pyshmintsev I. Yu., Gizatullin A. B., Devyaterikova N. A., Laev K. A. et al. Preliminary assessment of the possibility of using large-diameter pipes made of X52 steel for transportation of pure hydrogen gas under pressure. Izvestiya vuzov. Chernaya metallurgiya. 2023. No. 66 (1). pp. 35–42. DOI: 10.17073/0368-0797-2023-1-35-42
9. Nguyen Th. T., Park J., Kim W. S., Nahm S. H. et al. Effect of low partial hydrogen in a mixture with methane on the mechanical properties of X70 pipeline steel. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. 2020. Vol. 45. pp. 2368–2381. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.11.013
10. Moro I., Briottet L., Lemoine P., Andrieu E. et al. Hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility of a high strength steel X80. Materials Science and Engineering: A. 2010. Vol. 527, Iss. 27-28. pp. 7252–7260. DOI: 10.1016/j.msea.2010.07.027
11. Brauer H., Simm M., Wanzenberg E., Henel M. et al. Energy transition with hydrogen pipes: Mannesmann "H2ready" and the changeover of existing Gasunie natural gas networks. Pipeline Technology. 2020. Vol. 01. pp. 16–29.
12. Martin M. L., Connolly M., Buck Z. N., Bradley P. E. et al. Evaluating a natural gas pipeline steel for blended hydrogen service. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering. 2022. Vol. 101. DOI: 10.1016/j.jngse.2022.104529
13. San Marchi C., Somerday B. P., Nibur K. A. Development of standards for evaluating materials compatibility with high-pressure gaseous hydrogen. International Conference on Hydrogen Safety. Available at: https://h2tools.org/sites/default/files/2019-08/paper_190.pdf (accessed: 26.09.2023).
14. Ronevich J. A., Song E. J., Somerday B. P., San Marchi C. W. Hydrogen-assisted fracture resistance of pipeline welds in gaseous hydrogen. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. 2021. Vol. 46. pp. 7601–7614.
15. Escot M., Briottet L., Moro I., Andrieu E. et al. Hydrogen enhanced fatigue of a Cr–Mo steel for gaseous hydrogen storage. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281044500 (accessed: 26.09.2023).
16. ASTM E112-2021. Standard test methods for determining average grain size. Available at: https://www.astm.org/standards/e112 (accessed: 26.09.2023).
17. ASME BPVC VIII, Division 3, Article KD-10. Special Requirements for Vessels in High Pressure Gaseous Hydrogen Transport and Storage. Rules for Construction of Pressure Vessels. Available at: https://www.asme.org/codes-standards/find-codes-standards/bpvc-viii-1-bpvc-sectionviii-rules-construction-pressure-vessels-division-1/2023/print-book (accessed: 26.09.2023).
18. ISO 11114-4:2017. Transportable gas cylinders – Compatibility of cylinder and valve materials with gas contents. – Part 4: Test methods for selecting steels resistant to hydrogen embrittlement. Available at: https://www.iso.org/standard/64587.html (accessed: 26.09.2023).
19. ASTM E 1820-21. Standard test method for measurement of fracture toughness. 2022. Available at: https://www.astm.org/e1820-21.html (accessed: 26.09.2023).
20. ASTM E 1681-03 (2020). Standard test method for determining threshold stress intensity factor for environment-assisted cracking of metallic materials. Available at: https://www.astm.org/e1681-03r20.html (accessed: 26.09.2023).
21. ASTM G 142-98 (2022). Standard test method for determination of susceptibility of metals to embrittlement in hydrogen containing environments at high pressure, high temperature, or both. Available at: https://www.astm.org/g0142-98r22.html (accessed: 26.09.2023).
22. ASTM G 129-21. Standard practice for slow strain rate testing to evaluate the susceptibility of metallic materials to environmentally assisted cracking. Available at: https://www.astm.org/g0129-21.html (accessed: 26.09.2023).
23. NACE TM 0198-2011. Slow strain rate test method for screening corrosion-resistant alloys (CRAs) for stress corrosion cracking in sour oilfield service. Available at: https://www.standards.globalspec.com/std/14333635/NACE%20TM0198 (accessed: 26.09.2023).
24. ASTM E8/E8M-22. Metal tensile testing. Available at: https://www.astm.org/e0008_e0008m-22.html (accessed: 26.09.2023).
25. ASTM E 399-20. Standard test method for linear-elastic plane-strain fracture toughness of metallic materials. Available at: https://www.astm.org/e0399-20.html (accessed: 26.09.2023).
26. ASTM F 1459-06 (2017). Standard test method for determination of the susceptibility of metallic materials to hydrogen gas embrittlement (HGE). Available at: https://www.astm.org/f1459-06r17.html (accessed: 26.09.2023).
27. Yin R., Fu R., Gu N, Liu Y. A study of hydrogen embrittlement of SA-372 J class high pressure hydrogen storage seamless cylinder (≥100 MPA). MDPI. Materials. 2022. Vol. 15. 7714. DOI: 10.3390/ma15217714
28. Ardon K., Charles Y., Gaspérini M., Furtado J. A numerical and experimental study of the disk pressure test. Proceedings of the ASME 2013. Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference PVP. 2013. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267613611_A_Numerical_and_Experimental_Study_of_the_Disk_Pressure_Test (accessed: 26.09.2023).