(Note: extracts seeking relevance to drilling) )Hydrogen...

(Note: extracts seeking relevance to drilling) )

Hydrogen embrittlement
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hydrogen embrittlement (or hydrogen grooving) is the process by which various metals, most importantly high-strength steel, become brittle and crack following exposure to hydrogen. Hydrogen cracking can pose an engineering problem especially in the context of a hydrogen economy. However, commercially workable and safe technology exists globally in the hydrogen industry, which produces some 50 million metric tons per year.
Hydrogen embrittlement is also used to describe the formation of zircaloy hydride. Use of the term in this context is common in the nuclear industry.

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Hydrogen embrittlement can occur during various manufacturing operations or operational use - anywhere that the metal comes into contact with atomic or molecular hydrogen. Processes that can lead to this include cathodic protection, phosphating, pickling, and electroplating. ... Other mechanisms of introduction of hydrogen into metal are galvanic corrosion, chemical reactions of metal with acids, or with other chemicals (notably hydrogen sulfide in sulfide stress cracking, or SSC, a process of importance for the oil and gas industries).