Hydrogen Embrittlement in Oil Country Tubular Goods and Line Pipes

Abstract

OCTG (Oil Country Tubular Goods) and line pipes used for production and transportation of oil and gas are the major steel products which suffer hydrogen embrittlement (HE) because they are often exposed to wet hydrogen sulfide (sour) environments, where a lot of hydrogen enters the steel. Typical damage types of HE are hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) and sulfide stress cracking (SSC). First, hydrogen uptake behavior of the steel in sour environments are explained. Concerning HIC and SSC, their mechanisms and metallurgical controlling factors are outlined. Finally it would be understood that developments of OCTG and line pipes resistant to sour have promoted steel production technology for these several decades.