FP7-FCH-JU-2011-1 -303422

MATHRYCE

Material Testing and Recommendations for Hydrogen Components under fatigue

Existing codes and standards

Author(s)

Randy Dey – CCS

Jader Furtado – AL

Paolo Bortot - Tenaris

Contract Start Date 2012-10-01

Duration 36 months

Project Applicant CEA - LITEN

FCH Joint Undertaking Collaborative Project

Project funded by the European Commission

2

D2.2 Existing codes and standards

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION The deployment of a large hydrogen infrastructure with societal acceptance relies on the development of appropriate codes and standards to ensure safety. Indeed, the effect of hydrogen on metals properties is not as well understood as many of the other aspects of the design and construction of pressure equipment. The main aim of the MATHRYCE project is to develop an easy to implement methodology based on lab-scale experimental tests under hydrogen gas to assess the service life of a real scale component taking into account fatigue loading under hydrogen gas. The MATHRYCE project also aims to provide codes and standards recommendations based on results and to disseminate them to European and international standards bodies.

The first step in Review of existing codes and standards on H2 vessel design - Task 2.2 of the MATHRYCE project, was to prepare a list of existing codes and standards for pressure vessels, mainly type 1 cylinder in the presence of hydrogen. Note that Type 2, 3, 4 cylinders are also included since they all have a metallic component in contact with hydrogen and subjected also to fatigue loading. A short list of recognized standards for design of high pressure cylinders used for storage and transportation of compressed gas including H2 was reviewed for their limits and the different approaches used for fatigue design and qualification of gas cylinders.

In Europe, the harmonized European code EN 13445 is used by the European Community member countries, but local codes such as the German code AD2000 and the French code CODAP are also applied to the design of unfired pressure vessels. The ASME Section VIII, Div. 1-2-3 is used in USA, and KHK codes together with some related JIS standards are applied in Japan. Most of the evaluated standards consider the possibility of hydrogen embrittlement and hydrogen enhanced fatigue for steels at different levels and some of them require specific design depending on the hydrogen pressure.

FINDINGS A review of the existing codes and standards for hydrogen pressure vessels design has been completed which highlights their limits concerning hydrogen fatigue-based design. Only recently, the ASME Section VIII-Division III code through the KD-10 code case and the Japanese KHK code through the S0220 standard have started to address the effect of hydrogen.

Considering that the fatigue of H2 reservoirs of hydrogen refueling stations will spend most of its service life to initiate a crack and that fatigue crack propagation is fast when compared to propagation in air or inert environment, another design methodology is required, which is the main focus of the MATHRYCE project.

An updated and much more complete version of this deliverable will be published next June 2014. If you want it as soon as it will be published, please feel free to get in touch with us at: oguerard@vitamib.com. Thanks.