Characterise high-performance, green steels for the hydrogen economy

R&D Focus Areas:
Hydrogen embrittlement, Safety and standards

Lead Organisation:
The University of Sydney

Partners:
Giflo Steels Australia; CITIC Metal

Status:
Active

Start date:
September 2023

Completion date:
August 2026

Key contacts:
Dr Yi-Sheng (Eason) Chen – yi-sheng.chen@sydney.edu.au

Funding:
AUD$477,237 – Australian Research Council
AUD$100,000 – Giflo Steels Australia
AUD$100,000 – CITIC Metal
AUD$386,608 – The University of Sydney

Project total cost:
AUD$1,463,845 – combined cash and in-kind contribution

Project summary description:
This project aims to develop the knowledge around microstructures and hydrogen interactions of a range of advanced steels that can be produced with low carbon emissions by the industry partner. These steels can lead to solutions for the hydrogen pipes and vessels without concern of hydrogen embrittlement, which play a crucial role in enabling a safe hydrogen economy.

This partnership will allow the industry partner to access the advanced characterisation tools and will also expose the lead researcher with the opportunity to develop and manufacture new steels in industry. This will also de-risk the key industry partners investment in Australia for a new steel mill dedicating to the new green steels for supporting Australia’s hydrogen infrastructure.

Related publications and key links:
Yi-Sheng Chen et al. ‘Atom probe tomography for the observation of hydrogen in materials: A review’ Microscopy and Microanalysis 1 (2023) 1-15 https://doi.org/10.1093/micmic/ozac005

Hanyu Li and Yi-Sheng Chen et al. ‘Hydrogen in pipeline steels: Recent advances in characterization and embrittlement mitigation’ Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 105 (2022) 104709 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2022.104709

Higher degree studies supported:
This project supports the training for one PhD student and one Honours student and is of a length of three years.

 

Reviewed: October 2023