Study of hydrogen embrittlement in the green steelworks ‒ the case of the high temperature nickel-based alloys

This paper presents a study of exposure of two high-temperature Nickel-based alloys to a Hydrogen gas in flow. This study is performed within the EU Project “RecHycle”, aiming at construction of a prototype Hydrogen-driven steelwork. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of this exposure to the mechanical and metallurgical properties of the two materials in question and assess the effect of the transition of the steelworks from conventional fuel to green Hydrogen. The paper presents a full methodology of exposure, testing and analysis of the samples in the laboratory conditions, which was applied in this study. The main conclusions of the study report that the material in both cases has not experienced any detriment of critical mechanical and structural parameters after an exposure for a period of up to 48 h. The study recommends that further investigations in a relevant industrial environment are carried out, simulating the real load cycles of the future green steelworks.