New insight into the fitness of 13Cr stainless steel in H2S-containing environment at high temperature

Abstract

In the oil and gas industry, the selection of tubing and casing materials is required to follow international standard ISO 15156. However, it does not provide guidance on selecting stainless steel materials for H2S-containing wells above 232 °C, which raises uncertainty about the suitability of 13Cr steel. This work focuses on investigating the mechanical degradation and failure mechanisms of 13Cr stainless steel exposed to high-temperature conditions and proposed a creep constitutive model. Then, the corrosion and cracking mechanisms of 13Cr stainless steel at temperatures ranging from 150 °C to 350 °C were elucidated. Results show that 13Cr stainless steel meets the current material selection criteria (GB/T34907-2017) for mechanical properties and creep resistance. In the range of 150–250 °C, the localized corrosion is dominant, and stress-oriented hydrogen-induced cracking occurs at 150 °C. As the temperature increases from 250 °C to 350 °C, although the maximum value of uniform corrosion rate is as high as 0.2960 mm/a, the cracking does not happen. Therefore, with the implementation of suitable protective measures, 13Cr stainless steel can be utilized in wells that the temperatures ranging from 250 °C to 350 °C and H2S partial pressures up to 0.17 MPa. This aligns with the global carbon-neutral agenda.