Assessment of in-service welding conditions for pressurized hydrogen pipelines via component test
- Hydrogen is the energy carrier of tomorrow for a fossil-free future. This requires a reliable transport infrastructure capable of transporting large quantities of hydrogen. In addition to the construction of new pipelines, the conversion of existing natural gas (NG) networks is an essential part of global hydrogen strategies. The transport of hydrogen is fundamentally different from that of NG, as hydrogen can be absorbed into the pipeline material. Given the known effects of hydrogen embrittlement, the compatibility of the materials for the proposed pipelines (typically low alloy steels in a wide range of strengths and thicknesses) must be investigated. However, pipelines require frequent maintenance, repair, or the need to install additional outlets. In some cases, it is necessary to perform welding on or to the pipelines while they are in-service, i.e. with active gas flow under high pressure. This in-service welding poses challenges for hydrogen operations in terms of additionalHydrogen is the energy carrier of tomorrow for a fossil-free future. This requires a reliable transport infrastructure capable of transporting large quantities of hydrogen. In addition to the construction of new pipelines, the conversion of existing natural gas (NG) networks is an essential part of global hydrogen strategies. The transport of hydrogen is fundamentally different from that of NG, as hydrogen can be absorbed into the pipeline material. Given the known effects of hydrogen embrittlement, the compatibility of the materials for the proposed pipelines (typically low alloy steels in a wide range of strengths and thicknesses) must be investigated. However, pipelines require frequent maintenance, repair, or the need to install additional outlets. In some cases, it is necessary to perform welding on or to the pipelines while they are in-service, i.e. with active gas flow under high pressure. This in-service welding poses challenges for hydrogen operations in terms of additional hydrogen absorption during welding and material compatibility. The challenge can be roughly divided into the possible austenitization of the inner pipe material exposed to hydrogen, which can lead to sufficient hydrogen absorption, and the welding itself, which causes an increased temperature range. Both lead to a significant increase in hydrogen solubility of the respective materials compared to room temperature. In this context, knowledge about welding on hydrogen pipelines is scarce due to the lack of operational experience. Fundamental experimental investigations are required to investigate the transferability from natural gas to hydrogen pipeline networks. For this reason, the present study presents a specially designed demonstrator concept for the realistic assessment of the welding process conditions. The demonstrator was designed ex-post sample extraction for quantification of the absorbed hydrogen concentration. For safety reasons, the required volume of pressurized hydrogen was limited by inserting a solid cylinder. Welding experiments on the DN50 and DN200 pressurized demonstrators showed an increased hydrogen uptake in the welded area of several ppm.…


| Autor*innen: | Kjell ErxlebenORCiD |
|---|---|
| Koautor*innen: | Sebastian KaiserORCiD, Michael RhodeORCiD, Thomas KannengießerORCiD |
| Dokumenttyp: | Posterpräsentation |
| Veröffentlichungsform: | Präsentation |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Jahr der Erstveröffentlichung: | 2025 |
| Organisationseinheit der BAM: | 9 Komponentensicherheit |
| 9 Komponentensicherheit / 9.4 Integrität von Schweißverbindungen | |
| DDC-Klassifikation: | Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / Ingenieurwissenschaften / Ingenieurwissenschaften und zugeordnete Tätigkeiten |
| Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / Ingenieurwissenschaften / Angewandte Physik | |
| Freie Schlagwörter: | Component test; Hydrogen; In-service; Pipeline; Repair welding |
| Themenfelder/Aktivitätsfelder der BAM: | Energie |
| Energie / Wasserstoff | |
| Material | |
| Material / Degradationsmechanismen | |
| Veranstaltung: | Materials Week/Steel Innovation |
| Veranstaltungsort: | Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
| Beginndatum der Veranstaltung: | 02.04.2025 |
| Enddatum der Veranstaltung: | 04.04.2025 |
| Verfügbarkeit des Dokuments: | Datei im Netzwerk der BAM verfügbar ("Closed Access") |
| Datum der Freischaltung: | 15.04.2025 |
| Referierte Publikation: | Nein |

