Gilles Hochstetter

New Materials for Hydrogen Distribution Networks: Materials Development & Technico-Economic Benchmark

In France, the steel transportation network for natural gas is connected to the distribution network which operates at lower pressure. This one (total length of 165 000 km) is mainly made of polymer pipes like polyethylene. With the introduction of hydrogen in mixture with natural gas and finally the transport of pure hydrogen, the key challenge is the high level of permeability that is to say the flow rate of hydrogen through polymer infrastructures (pipes or components like connecting parts). This high flow rate of hydrogen has to be taken into account for safety and economic requirements. Long-term behaviour must be carefully assessed: permeation/diffusion properties, thermo-mechanical behaviour and ageing. It is important to characterize the existing distribution network and to propose more innovative materials than polyethylene that could meet the targets for future hydrogen distribution applications. The aim of this project was to develop and assess material solutions to cope with today problems in term of high flow rate of hydrogen and ageing under a hydrogen environment. Polyethylene is considered as a reference material since it is used today in natural gas distribution pipes. Test benches and protocols for testing materials in term of mechanical and barrier properties were first developed. On the other hand, technical polymers (multi-layers, other thermoplastics, polymer blends) have been proposed and studied to improve gas-barrier performances compared to polyethylene. Step by step, permeation and basic mechanical tests have been performed and then more specific characterisations have been done (for long-term ageing under various conditions) in order to choose one or several materials that could meet the specifications required by hydrogen distribution. The design of a pipe prototype was also carried out at the end the project and an economic study was performed for the different potential solutions.

Correlation Between Hydrolysis and the Ultimate Mechanical Properties of Polyamides in Offshore Conditions

Knowledge of mechanical properties of polymers used in the field of very technical applications is crucial for guaranteeing the safety of those applications. This is particularly true for pressure sheaths of offshore flexible pipes. For polyamide 11 (PA-11), which has been used for 30 years in the field of oil & gas applications, the decrease of its mechanical properties due to hydrolysis can be monitored by the decrease of the molecular weight, or Corrected Inherent Viscosity (CIV). According to API 17TR2 a design limit of CIV = 1.2 has been established for the use of PA-11 in dynamic applications. This design limit includes a safety factor, related to the kinetics of the molecular weight decrease of the PA-11, between CIV = 1.2 and the end of life criteria (CIV = 1.05). We show, in this paper, that this kinetic shall be established with tests enabling to precisely determine the near-equilibrium CIV value. This supposes sufficiently long-term ageing experiments at high temperatures. As a consequence, for any new polyamide, the time to reach the CIV of 1.2 can’t be considered as a sufficient design factor. Moreover, the safety factor for a new polyamide should be carefully estimated. Therefore, the complete characterization of the mechanical behaviour should be done in relation with the ageing time and temperature. Only at this condition, one can expect to be able to establish a new and correct end of life criterion for a new polyamide based on mechanics. In a second time, this criterion could be linked to some physico-chemical parameters. We point out that the maximum elongation evolution of the material with the molecular weight couldn’t be considered as sufficiently precise to conclude about the mechanical resistance of the aged material for flexible pipe application. We thus present in this paper a new mechanical protocol.Copyright

Polyamide 11 in Offshore Conditions: Hydrolytical Ageing, Mechanical Behaviour in Flexible Pipes

The polyamide 11 is in use since more than 30 years in offshore applications, in particularly for the manufacturing of the pressure sheath in flexible pipes.© 2007 ASME

Polyamide 11: A High Tenacity Thermoplastic, Its Material Properties and the Influence of Ageing in Offshore Conditions

Polyamide 11 is a key material in the fabrication of offshore flexible pipes. It is mainly used as the flexible pressure layer assuring the impermeability of the fluid and gas carrying flexible pipe. A further important use is as outer sheath material where it protects efficiently the metal strip structure from sea water ingress even in highly dynamic applications. Given these important functions of polyamide 11 the knowledge of its precise material properties is essential for the design and the operating limits of flexible pipes. This paper aims to give a detailed understanding of the scope of the material properties such as fracture toughness, fatigue resistance and the mechanical response function. In a further step the influence of ageing on these properties is outlined with the aid of aged model specimen studies.Copyright