Hydrogen Permeation through Iron, Nickel, and Heat Resisting Alloys at Elevated Temperatures

Abstract

Hydrogen permeabilities of several metals and alloys were measured over the temperature range of 200-1000°C and some factors affecting the hydrogen permeability were discussed. Materials studied were iron, nickel, 80Ni-20Cr alloy, 50Fe-30Ni-20Cr alloy, HK 40, Incoloy 800, Hastelloy X, and Inconel 600. The hydrogen permeability of nickel was proportional to the square root of the pressure and inversely proportional to the membrane thickness. The activation energy and pre-exponential factor for the hydrogen permeation through these metals and alloys were derived from the temperature coefficient. The hydrogen permeability of nickel was larger than that of iron (γ), and the permeabilities of the heat resisting alloys were between those of nickel and iron (γ). There was a close correlation between the hydrogen permeability and nickel content in the alloys, that is, the permeability increased with the increase of the nickel content in the alloys. The formation of the oxide film on the alloy surface in wet hydrogen resulted in a remarkable reduction of the hydrogen permeability at elevated temperatures.