Hydrogen Compatibility of Austenitic Stainless Steel Tubing and Orbital Tube Welds

Refueling infrastructure for use in gaseous hydrogen powered vehicles requires extensive manifolding for delivering the hydrogen from the stationary fuel storage at the refueling station to the vehicle as well as from the mobile storage on the vehicle to the fuel cell or combustion engine. Manifolds for gas handling often use welded construction (as opposed to compression fittings) to minimize gas leaks. Therefore, it is important to understand the effects of hydrogen on tubing and tubing welds. This paper provides an overview of work at Sandia National Laboratories on hydrogen compatibility of high-pressure tubing and orbital tube welds of several austenitic stainless steels.