Session 16. Oral Presentation for: Hydrogen storage – are pipelines the solution?

Presented on 28 May 2025: Session 16 The energy transition is well underway, with pipeline operators and hydrogen producers managing hydrogen supply and demand. This paper compares hydrogen storage solutions, including bullets, drilled caissons, containers, and pipelines. It focuses on hydrogen pipelines and their challenges, such as hydrogen embrittlement, which reduces toughness and increases fatigue crack growth. Crack growth rates in hydrogen service are 10–50 times greater than in natural gas service, requiring careful pipeline design. The paper presents industry best practices for hydrogen pipeline fatigue design using ASME (2024), IGEM (2024), DNV (2023), and San Marchi et al. (2024). Determining the fatigue performance of carbon steel pipelines for hydrogen service requires considering the impact on the pipe body, seam welds, and girth welds. Case studies show that girth welds subjected to large axial stress differentials due to temperature fluctuations during storage lead to early design life failure. The paper discusses differences in fatigue performance between carbon steel pipelines in natural gas and hydrogen service. To access the Oral Presentation click the link below. To read the full paper click here