Influence of sour environment on hydrogen embrittlement of steel for oil country tubular goods (OCTG)

This paper reports a study on the susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement in 12 heats of an engineering steel, used for the production of drill pipes, which differed in their sulphur contents and in their microalloying with titanium, niobium and/or vanadium. Tests were performed in the presence of H2S in a NACE (National Association of Corrosion Engineers) solution complying with Specification TM-01-77 Section, 2. The findings prove that life forecasts must always take into account a whole set of microstructural factors, as well as the conditions that govern an uniform distribution of hydrogen atoms in the material.