Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) has developed HRX19, a new brand of stainless steel designed for high-pressure hydrogen environments.
The new product will be exhibited by the steelmaker at the International Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Expo in Tokyo next month (25-27 February). The product has already been used for heat exchangers, joints and valves of commercial-use hydrogen stations, claims the company.
HRX19 is described as a high-strength austenitic stainless steel manufactured under conditions of full integration from raw materials procurement to final processing, which guarantees quality, claims NSSMC.
The product has three distinctive features. First, it’s ‘excellent resistance to hydrogen gas embrittlement’; second, it’s high strength; and third its ‘excellent weldability’.
According to NSSMC, ‘this steel can contribute to (the) reduction of costs and the improvement of maintainability and safety in constructing hydrogen stations.’
The Iwatani Corporation and other companies have already used the new product in the construction of commercial hydrogen stations, claims NSSMC.