In the offshore technology, welded supermartensitic stainless steel flowlines are experiencing first applications in practice. Supermartensitic stainless steels will increasingly replace higher alloyed materials following the principle fitness for purpose by adjusting the alloying composition to the respective sour service conditions. For this, quite extensive test programs have been performed usually relying on small scaled standard tests. However, basic tests elucidating the hydrogen transport phenomena in such materials have less frequently been performed and have so far been concentrated only on standard test solutions. In order to provide further data of hydrogen uptake and diffusion for respective numerical analyses and respective life time calculations, the previous research work about hydrogen permeation in supermartensitic stainless steels has been continued by focussing on the effects of real formation water compositions in contrast to usually used buffered standard brines. During the present study, it turned out that hydrogen uptake in terms of the subsurface concentration significantly depends on the composition of the respective environment. No hydrogen has been taken up in the formation waters at their natural pH values and H2S saturations. But, in particular at lower pH values which might be established at certain locations, as for instance inside of crevices, very high hydrogen subsurface concentration of more than 50 ml/100g have been measured. In addition to the already known effects of the pH value and the H2S saturation, as the strongest influence of the chemical composition on hydrogen uptake the chloride content of the solutions has been identified. Again, it was found that the chemical composition of the materials has a significant effect on the respective hydrogen subsurface concentration and the diffusion coefficient.
Keywords: hydrogen permeation, supermartensitic stainless steel, formation water, realistic environments, diffusion coefficient, subsurface concentration, free corrosion, chemical composition