【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】2691-2025: Delivery and installation site of China’s first batch of steel pipes for long-distance hydrogen pipelines
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This post was last edited by HaiChuanLaoYu on 2025-9-22 07:40. Let’s give praise and support to the achievements made in China’s chemical engineering technology and equipment; your participation in discussions is the greatest encouragement. **********************【Ten Years of Progress in Chemical Engineering Equipment】A continuously updated summary thread – feel free to join the discussions: https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html ***************** On September 6, 2025, 5 heavy trucks loaded with straight-seam submerged arc welded steel pipes and hot-bent pipes intended for hydrogen transport left Bohai Equipment Giant Dragon Steel Pipe Company and headed to the construction site of the pure hydrogen pipeline demonstration project in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. These are among the first steel pipe products to be used in domestic pure hydrogen long-distance pipelines, overcoming the technical challenges associated with the large-scale, long-distance transport of hydrogen; they represent a milestone for the development of the hydrogen energy industry. Five heavy trucks carrying the first batch of domestically produced steel pipes for pure hydrogen long-distance pipelines headed to Zhangjiakou, marking a crucial step in advancing China’s hydrogen storage and transportation technology from the laboratory to practical application. It is understood that the products shipped this time are important outcomes of the Hebei Province project on \"Research and Application Demonstration of Key Technologies for Long-Distance Hydrogen Pipelines\". This project is jointly undertaken by the Bohai Equipment Research Institute of CNPC and Julong Steel Pipe Company. Its goal is to carry out demonstration applications of pure hydrogen long-distance pipeline transmission and storage systems, to build hydrogen pipelines capable of adapting to fluctuations in the production capacity of hydrogen from renewable sources, and to achieve coordinated use across the entire hydrogen value chain, including production, transmission, and storage. In the face of the stringent requirements for hydrogen transportation, the R&D team, through more than two years of continuous efforts, successfully overcame challenges such as high-precision progressive forming control technology for straight-seam submerged arc welded steel pipes, welding material selection and process matching techniques, and heat treatment technology for bent pipe fittings. They developed straight-seam submerged arc welded steel pipes and hot-bent pipes that meet the requirements of demonstration projects, thereby gaining full mastery of the core manufacturing technologies for such pipes in pure hydrogen long-distance transmission pipelines.
01 Technical breakthrough: Overcoming the problem of hydrogen embrittlement to achieve independent innovation. The biggest technical challenge in hydrogen transportation is the issue of hydrogen embrittlement – high-pressure hydrogen can penetrate into the metal, reducing its toughness and increasing the likelihood of cracking. In 2023, Bohai Equipment Company collaborated with well-known domestic steel mills to successfully carry out two trial productions in a single furnace for hydrogen transport pipes with diameters of 508 millimeters and 610 millimeters. The trial-produced steel met the standard requirements in terms of test parameters such as slow tensile testing, fracture toughness, and fatigue life, and key data on the chemical composition, physical and mechanical properties, and welding processes of hydrogen-containing pipeline materials were obtained. After more than two years of intensive research, the R&D team successfully overcame challenges such as high-precision progressive forming control technology for straight-seam submerged arc welded steel pipes, welding material selection and process matching techniques, as well as heat treatment technology for bent pipe fittings, and developed products that meet the requirements of the demonstration project. 02 Standard setting: China’s first national standard for hydrogen pipelines sets a benchmark for the industry. The lack of standards has always been a key factor restricting the development of hydrogen pipelines in China. In June 2025, the **standard for steel pipes used in hydrogen storage and transmission pipelines**, developed under the leadership of the R&D institute of Bohai Equipment Company, was approved by the National Steel Standardization Technical Committee. This is the first domestic **standard** for steel pipes used in hydrogen storage and transmission pipelines, developed by Chinese petroleum enterprises; it involves targeted research on the mechanisms of damage caused by the transport of pure hydrogen/hydrogen blends, the development of pipelines for hydrogen transport, and the key manufacturing technologies for such pipelines. This standard was submitted for approval in February 2023 and approved in January 2024. It went through processes such as standard drafting, solicitation of opinions, preliminary review, and final approval, providing a reference and basis for the construction of hydrogen pipelines. 03 Project Applications: Accelerated Implementation of Major Pipeline Projects With technological advancements and improved standards, several hydrogen transport pipeline projects in China are now on the agenda. The Kangbao to Caofeidian hydrogen pipeline project, with a total investment of around 13.45 billion yuan, began its survey and measurement work by the end of 2024. With a total length of 1,037.82 kilometers, a diameter of 813 millimeters, and a design pressure of 7.2 megapascals, this pipeline is capable of transporting 1.55 million tons of hydrogen per year; it will become the world’s largest green hydrogen pipeline in terms of both diameter and transport capacity. “The “West Hydrogen to East” hydrogen pipeline pilot project has been included in the Implementation Plan for the Construction of a National Integrated Oil and Gas Network. Starting from Ulanqab City in Inner Mongolia and ending at Yanshan Petrochemical in Beijing, this pipeline is over 400 kilometers long; it is China’s first cross-provincial, large-scale, long-distance pure hydrogen transport pipeline. In July 2025, the first batch of 50 submerged arc welded straight-seam pure hydrogen transport steel pipes for the Damao Banner to Baotou section of the demonstration project for a hydrogen pipeline connecting Ulanqab City in Inner Mongolia with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region were successfully produced. The greatest advantage of pipeline hydrogen transport is its cost-effectiveness. According to calculations, for a hydrogen refueling station located 100 kilometers away from the hydrogen source and using pipeline transportation, the unit cost can be lower than 1.5 yuan per kilogram, which is only one-fourth of the cost associated with transporting hydrogen using long-distance tankers. The hydrogen pipeline project running from Damao Banner to Baotou city covers a length of approximately 190 kilometers. Once completed, it will enable enterprises in the region to reduce their hydrogen transportation costs by nearly 80%, which is of great significance for promoting the efficient use of green hydrogen resources and supporting the development of the regional new energy industry. Pipeline hydrogen transport can also effectively address the mismatch between supply and demand for green hydrogen in China, by transporting green hydrogen produced from abundant renewable energy sources in the western regions to areas in the east with high demand, thereby promoting the scaled development of the hydrogen industry. With the first batch of pure hydrogen pipeline products shipped to Zhangjiakou, China’s hydrogen storage and transportation technology has made a historic leap from laboratory research to large-scale commercial use. The construction of hydrogen transmission pipelines will effectively address the mismatch between supply and demand for green hydrogen in China, thereby promoting the scaled development of the hydrogen energy industry. In the coming years, with the gradual completion of major pipeline projects such as the Kangbao-Caofeidian project and the \"West Hydrogen to East\" project, China’s hydrogen industry is set to experience rapid growth, providing strong support for the green and low-carbon transformation of energy.
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