TY - JOUR A1 - Erxleben, Kjell A1 - Kaiser, Sebastian A1 - Rhode, Michael A1 - Kannengiesser, Thomas A1 - Kromm, Arne T1 - In-service and repair welding of pressurized hydrogen pipelines–a review on current challenges and strategies N2 - Hydrogen is the energy carrier for a sustainable future without fossil fuels. As this requires a reliable transportation infrastructure, the conversion of existing natural gas (NG) grids is an essential part of the worldwide individual national hydrogen strategies, in addition to newly erected pipelines. In view of the known effect of hydrogen embrittlement, the compatibility of the materials already in use (typically low-alloy steels in a wide range of strengths and thicknesses) must be investigated. Initial comprehensive studies on the hydrogen compatibility of pipeline materials indicate that these materials can be used to a certain extent. Nevertheless, the material compatibility for hydrogen service is currently of great importance. However, pipelines require frequent maintenance and repair work. In some cases, it is necessary to carry out welding work on pipelines while they are under pressure, e.g., the well-known tapping of NG grids. This in-service welding brings additional challenges for hydrogen operations in terms of additional hydrogen absorption during welding and material compatibility. The challenge can be roughly divided into two parts: (1) the possible austenitization of the inner piping material exposed to hydrogen, which can lead to additional hydrogen absorption, and (2) the welding itself causes an increased temperature range. Both lead to a significantly increased hydrogen solubility in the respective materials compared to room temperature. In that connection, the knowledge on hot tapping on hydrogen pipelines is rare so far due to the missing service experiences. Fundamental experimental investigations are required to investigate the possible transferability of the state-of-the-art concepts from NG to hydrogen pipeline grids. This is necessary to ensure that no critical material degradation occurs due to the potentially increased hydrogen uptake. For this reason, the paper introduces the state of the art in pipeline hot tapping, encompassing current research projects and their individual solution strategies for the problems that may arise for future hydrogen service. Methods of material testing, their limitations, and possible solutions will be presented and discussed. KW - In-service KW - Welding KW - Hydrogen pipeline KW - Review PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-638847 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-025-02127-x SN - 0043-2288 SP - 1 EP - 24 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-63884 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Erxleben, Kjell A1 - Kaiser, Sebastian A1 - Rhode, Michael A1 - Kannengiesser, Thomas A1 - Kromm, Arne T1 - In-service and repair welding of pressurized hydrogen pipelines–a review on current challenges and strategies N2 - Hydrogen is the energy carrier for a sustainable future without fossil fuels. As this requires a reliable transportation infrastructure, the conversion of existing natural gas (NG) grids is an essential part of the worldwide individual national hydrogen strategies, in addition to newly erected pipelines. In view of the known effect of hydrogen embrittlement, the compatibility of the materials already in use (typically low-alloy steels in a wide range of strengths and thicknesses) must be investigated. Initial comprehensive studies on the hydrogen compatibility of pipeline materials indicate that these materials can be used to a certain extent. Nevertheless, the material compatibility for hydrogen service is currently of great importance. However, pipelines require frequent maintenance and repair work. In some cases, it is necessary to carry out welding work on pipelines while they are under pressure, e.g., the well-known tapping of NG grids. This in-service welding brings additional challenges for hydrogen operations in terms of additional hydrogen absorption during welding and material compatibility. The challenge can be roughly divided into two parts: (1) the possible austenitization of the inner piping material exposed to hydrogen, which can lead to additional hydrogen absorption, and (2) the welding itself causes an increased temperature range. Both lead to a significantly increased hydrogen solubility in the respective materials compared to room temperature. In that connection, the knowledge on hot tapping on hydrogen pipelines is rare so far due to the missing service experiences. Fundamental experimental investigations are required to investigate the possible transferability of the state-of-the-art concepts from NG to hydrogen pipeline grids. This is necessary to ensure that no critical material degradation occurs due to the potentially increased hydrogen uptake. For this reason, the paper introduces the state of the art in pipeline hot tapping, encompassing current research projects and their individual solution strategies for the problems that may arise for future hydrogen service. Methods of material testing, their limitations, and possible solutions will be presented and discussed. KW - In-service KW - Hydrogen KW - Repair welding KW - Pipeline PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-638944 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-025-02127-x SN - 0043-2288 SP - 1 EP - 24 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-63894 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Erxleben, Kjell A1 - Kaiser, Sebastian A1 - Rhode, Michael A1 - Kannengießer, Thomas A1 - Hadick, C. A1 - Schu, K. T1 - Quantification of hydrogen uptake during in-service hydrogen pipeline welding N2 - Hydrogen must be transported on a large scale from producers to consumers to ensure the energy transition. The necessary pipeline grid is achieved by conversion of the natural gas (NG) grid and building new pipelines. Welding during service as part e.g. of “hot-tapping” is unavoidable for maintenance/repair/expansion. Based on existing studies, the basic material compatibility of (low-alloyed) pipeline steels with hydrogen is postulated. However, this cannot be assumed for the case of in-service welding on pipelines in pressurized condition. The reason is the increased temperature e.g. by preheating and (in particular) during welding of the single passes. As a result, the inner pipeline surface undergoes multiple short-term heating but to high temperatures. In particular, the first passes can result in a temperature close to the austenitic transformation of the material for small wall thicknesses. Both increase the hydrogen uptake into the welded joint. If hydrogen embrittlement is likely to occur, depends on the hydrogen uptake, which must be quantified. For this purpose, welding experiments on pressurized demonstrators were conducted. The hydrogen uptake at 100 bar was compared to reference experiments with nitrogen. A new sample extraction routine for the quantification of the weld-zone specific hydrogen uptake was established. Comprehensive experiments with different steels (P235, L360, L485), wall thicknesses (4.1 mm to 7.8 mm) and diameters (DN50 and DN200) were conducted. In addition, the influence of the welding layer sequence on the hydrogen uptake between single- and multi-layer welds was investigated. Analytical approaches were used to approximate the hydrogen uptake in the respective weld zones. The main findings were that the layer sequence and especially the wall thickness have a large influence on the hydrogen uptake. T2 - 20th Pipeline Technology Conference ptc2025 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 06.05.2025 KW - In-service KW - Hydrogen KW - Pipeline KW - Repair welding KW - component test PY - 2025 SP - 1 EP - 12 AN - OPUS4-63166 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Erxleben, Kjell A1 - Kaiser, Sebastian A1 - Rhode, Michael A1 - Kannengießer, Thomas A1 - Hadick, C. A1 - Schu, K. T1 - Component test concept for evaluation of in-service welding on pressurized hydrogen pipelines N2 - Hydrogen is set as the energy carrier of tomorrow and most countries will achieve large-scale hydrogen transport through the conversion of the natural gas (NG) grid and the construction of new pipelines. The interaction between hydrogen and the pipeline materials differs fundamentally from that of NG, as hydrogen is readily absorbed into the material. Considering the possible hydrogen embrittlement (HE), the compatibility of the pipeline materials (low-alloyed steels with a wide strength/thickness range) must be investigated. However, pipelines require intervention for maintenance, repair, or grid expansion with welding on/onto the pipelines while in service, i.e. the well-known "hot tapping" and "plugging" or “stoppling”. The challenges compared to NG can be broadly divided into the possible austenitization of the inner pipe material exposed to hydrogen and the welding itself. Both result in a significant increase in hydrogen solubility and could potentially pose challenges in terms of HE. Emphasis is placed on the word "could" because knowledge of "hot tapping" on hydrogen pipelines is scarce due a lack of service experience. To this end, this study proposes a concept for a component-like demonstrator with the objectives: (1) safe feasibility of "hot tapping" on pressurized model hydrogen pipeline sections, (2) facilitate ex-post sample extraction for the purpose of quantifying the absorbed hydrogen concentrations, and (3) ensure in-situ temperature measurement during welding to monitor the pipeline surface temperature. For safety reasons in the event of an unintentional "burn-through", a solid cylinder was inserted in the demonstrator to restrict the hydrogen gas volume to a small, pressurized layer. Reference pipeline surface temperature measurements were ensured on comparable, unpressurized geometries. The investigated range of welding conditions was investigated for representative material/thickness combinations (DN50 to DN200), suggesting the feasibility of the demonstrator for the determination of reliable in-service welding conditions for both installed and new pipelines for hydrogen service. T2 - 20th Pipeline Technology Conference ptc2025 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 06.05.2025 KW - In-service KW - Hydrogen KW - Pipeline KW - Repair welding KW - component test PY - 2025 SP - 1 EP - 11 AN - OPUS4-63168 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -