Leakage and diffusion characteristics of underground hydrogen pipeline

Soil corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement are the main factors of hydrogen pipeline failure. The gas escapes, diffuses and accumulates in the soil and enters the atmosphere when leak occurs. The mechanism of gas diffusion in buried pipelines is very complicated. Mastering the evolution law of hydrogen leakage diffusion is conducive to quickly locating the leakage point and reducing the loss. The leakage model of the underground hydrogen pipeline is established in this paper. The effect of leakage hole, soil type, pipeline pressure, pipeline diameter on hydrogen leakage diffusion were investigated. The results show that when the hydrogen pipeline leaks, the hydrogen concentration increases with the increase of leakage time, showing a symmetrical distribution trend. With the pipeline pressure increase, hydrogen leakage speed is accelerated, and longitudinal diffusion gradually becomes the dominant direction. As the leakage diameter increases, hydrogen leakage per unit of time increases sharply. Hydrogen diffuses more easily in sandy soil, and its diffusion speed, concentration, and range are higher than that in clay soil. The research content provides a reference and basis for the detection and evaluation of buried hydrogen pipeline leakage.