Physical testing specialist Element Materials Technology has verified that Liberty's 42" submerged arc welded (SAW) line pipe meets the international requirements for hydrogen pipes and pipelines set by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in ASME B31.12 (2019). The demanding fracture mechanics test loaded the weld, heat affected zone and pipe material to twice the required stress intensity and exposed it to a 100 barg hydrogen atmosphere for 1000 hours with no crack formation recorded.
Demand for SAW line pipes is growing rapidly as part of the expectation that significant amounts of new pipework will be needed in the UK over the next 20 years to meet the demands of the transition to Net Zero. The UK Hydrogen Strategy, announced in 2021, aims to reduce emissions across UK industrial sectors and provide flexible energy for power, heat and transport, targeting 10 GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030.
Last month, Liberty Steel in Australia announced an agreement with global equipment suppliers to build a Direct Reduction Plant (DRP) at its Whyalla steelmaking facility to produce low carbon iron. The unit will initially use a mixture of natural gas and green hydrogen as a reducing agent, then switch to fully green hydrogen as it becomes available at scale.
The successful SAW tests were an important step in Liberty Pipes Hartlepool's development of a range of hydrogen service fracture mechanics tests, including future quasi-static tests. The company will continue to work with Element Materials Technology to further expand the availability of hydrogen suitable pipes.
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