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Hydrogen embrittlement failure is a major threat in the exploitation of sulfur-containing gas fields

2007-12-01View Original

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With the rapid development of the national economy, the demand for energy is increasing steadily, particularly the demand for natural gas, which is growing at a fast pace. “The construction of natural gas pipelines such as the \"West-to-East Gas Pipeline\" and the \"Chungmu Pipeline\" has led to exponential rapid development of the natural gas market across the country. According to available data, China’s demand for natural gas is expected to reach 90 billion cubic meters by 2010, and the actual industrial production is far from sufficient to meet this demand. What should I do? That means going all out and investing in the exploitation of various gas fields, including those with high sulfur content. Currently, effective development has been carried out internationally for various types of natural gas reservoirs with high difficulties, especially those containing sulfur; relatively mature extraction technologies for hydrogen sulfide-containing gas fields have also been developed. China also began exploiting hydrogen sulfide-containing gas fields at an early stage, and its technical level is now close to the international standard. However, technical challenges associated with the exploitation of such gas fields continue to arise, and objectively speaking, there is still a certain degree of risk involved. Hydrogen sulfide is a colorless, highly toxic, and strongly acidic gas with a relative density of 1.196, making it heavier than air. Hydrogen sulfide has a ignition point of 250°C; it produces a blue flame when burning and releases toxic sulfur dioxide. The toxicity of hydrogen sulfide is 5-6 times greater than that of carbon monoxide, and it is almost as highly toxic as cyanide. Domestic industry standards specify that when the concentration is below 15 milligrams per cubic meter, long-term exposure by almost all workers will not have any adverse effects ; At a concentration of 30 milligrams per cubic meter, workers can work safely outdoors for 8 hours ; A concentration of 150 milligrams per cubic meter is considered the critical dangerous concentration, at which point irreversible effects on life and health occur. Hydrogen sulfide dissolves in water to form a weak acid, and its corrosion of metals manifests as hydrogen embrittlement and sulfide stress corrosion cracking. Hydrogen embrittlement failure often leads to the sudden breakage of downhole tubing strings, the explosion of surface manifolds and instruments, as well as damage to wellhead equipment. It can even result in severe wellbore blowouts or fire accidents. Additionally, it may cause corrosion and cracking of the casing inside the well, with gases potentially escaping to the surface through these cracks. Therefore, for the exploitation of hydrogen sulfide gas fields, it is crucial to effectively prevent hydrogen embrittlement and sulfide stress corrosion from causing cracking in the pipelines underground; moreover, the related extraction technologies still need continuous development and improvement.

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