Energy March 2022

Page 46

HYDROGEN AND FUTURE FUELS SPONSORED EDITORIAL

PROTECTING CRITICAL PARTS

FROM HYDROGEN EMBRITTLEMENT AND THE WEATHER

ArmorGalv wind farm holddown bolts

In the energy industry, there are many steel components that must withstand the elements at their harshest extremes in Australia, and millions of dollars are spent on ensuring they don’t cause a catastrophic failure. Often, this can require highly expensive materials, rigorous maintenance regimes, numerous repairs or replacements.

H

ydrogen embrittlement is one of the many concerns that the industry has tried to address since it was identified in 1875 by W.H. Johnson. Hydrogen embrittlement is the permanent loss of ductility of a metal, which is caused by the presence of hydrogen in combination with stress. The result is intergranular fractures through the grains of steel. This hydrogen often arises in a manufacturing process, where the pickling of steel is involved in the galvanising or electroplating process. It can also arise in situations in the right (wrong) environmental conditions, which can include salinity of water or air vapour, leachates, effluent, or acidity of rainwater. It is caused by the absorption of hydrogen atoms into the steel, with trapped ‘H’ atoms subsequently forming ‘H2’ gas molecules within the steel, resulting in extreme internal stresses. It is the combination of material susceptibility through its properties, the stress load under which it is performing, the hydrogen source in production, and the environment which leads to potentially disastrous failures. Of course, we still need to provide very robust corrosion protection to ferrous parts to avoid the expensive maintenance

and replacement programs in future years or use highly expensive noncorrosive materials.

ArmorGalv bolts in wind turbine tower foundation

Coatings that produce a lot of hydrogen in their processes, such as electroplating and hot-dip galvanising, should be avoided. A coating that allows the product to be baked in ovens to allow the diffusion of hydrogen out of critical parts such as fasteners, brackets, and pole hardware, is ideal. Thermal Zinc Diffusion (TZD) is being proven worldwide to have ideal properties to protect critical components due to the nature of the dry baking process reducing hydrogen rather than inducing it.

TZD is also suitable for use with high tensile steel grades, with hydrogen embrittlement concerns removed. Steel grades at tensile strengths greater than 800 MPa are typically at risk of hydrogen embrittlement. TZD does not employ acid pickling, but typically utilises shot blasting for surface preparation, permitted by the greater diffusion time and increased development of the TZD gamma layer. The layers of TZD are typically harder than that of the parent material typically exceeding 35 Rockwell C (ASTM A1059/A) resulting in excellent wear resistance properties. Higher-tensile products such as critical fasteners can also have TZD protection, while the thread will have no galling issues, with the even coating consistency enabling torque and tension performance to be more accurately achieved. ArmorGalv in Thornton, New South Wales, is Australia’s only plant providing TZD, and has recently expanded to a larger facility adding new equipment to cope with the growing demands of a new forwardthinking Australian industry; demanding non-toxic environmentally friendly solutions. ArmorGalv is also launching ArmorThread to support industry with high-tensile corrosion protection without hydrogen embrittlement.

For more information on ArmorGalv’s protective solutions for ferrous metals, call 02 4028 6760, email sales@armorgalv.com.au, or visit: www.armorgalv.com.au.

44

March 2022 ISSUE 17

www.energymagazine.com.au


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Articles inside

Tackling Australia’s energy debt crisis

4min
pages 64-65

Q&A: Award-winning consumer engagement

7min
pages 62-63

The Virtual Power Plant: a new frontier for distributed energy resources?

9min
pages 56-59

Essential health protection for essential workers

2min
pages 54-55

Optimising energy efficiency a connected approach

6min
pages 60-61

Supporting the growth of sub-5MW projects in Australia

2min
pages 50-51

Energy Sector cyber readiness is a critical concern

5min
pages 52-53

Renewable energy deals to peak, for now

5min
pages 48-49

Turning the tide decarbonising with hydropower

5min
pages 44-45

Protecting critical parts from hydrogen embrittlement and the weather

2min
pages 46-47

Solutions for an uncertain future: Australia’s evolving gas network

5min
pages 36-37

Uncovering the risk of fugitive emissions from hydrogen

7min
pages 38-41

Exploring the potential of solar vehicles

5min
pages 32-33

Where do you put five million tonnes of hydrogen?

5min
pages 42-43

How solar skyscrapers could supercharge our cities

7min
pages 30-31

$100 million for new grid-scale batteries

2min
page 7

Australia’s big battery boom (Part 2)

6min
pages 20-23

Humanising the global energy transition: insights from the World Energy Council

10min
pages 12-15

The grid of the future could have wheels

8min
pages 18-19

Top 5 energy trends for 2022

6min
pages 16-17

New Momentum Energy Managing Director

0
pages 8-9

Unearthing hybrid energy solutions

6min
pages 24-27

Lower prices may never be right for batteries

2min
pages 28-29
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