For economical and environmental reasons, hydrogen is considered as a major energetic vector for the future. Hydrogen production via high temperature water vapour electrolysis (HTE) is a promising technology. A major technical difficulty related to high temperature water vapour electrolysis is the development of interconnects working efficiently for a long period. Working temperature of 800°C enables the use of metallic materials as interconnects. Chromia forming alloys are among the best candidates. The interconnect material chosen in the present study is a ferritic stainless steel with 18% chromium content. High temperature corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity of the alloy was tested in both cathode (H2/H2O) and anode (O2/H2O) atmospheres. Corrosion products were then characterized by SEM-EDX and XRD. Moreover chromium evaporation measurements were carried out under anode atmosphere.

The general effects of 1, 2, 3 and 4 vol.-% nitrogen and 1, 5 and 10 vol.-% hydrogen in argon shielding gas on weld bead profile (depth/width ratio: D/W) and the δ-ferrite content of AISI 316L pulsed GTAW welds were investigated. The limits for imperfections for the quality levels of welds were based on ISO 5817 B. The plates with a thickness of 6 mm were welded at the flat position and the bead on plate. Increasing hydrogen content in argon shielding gas increases the D/W ratio. Excessive hydrogen addition to argon shielding gas will result in incompletely filled groove and excessive penetration of weld. Increasing welding speed decreases the weld-metal volume and the D/W ratios. Nitrogen addition to argon shielding gas has no effect on the D/W ratio. The addition of a mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen to argon shielding gas on the D/W ratio does not show any interaction between them. An effect on the D/W ratio can be exclusively observed as a function of hydrogen content. Increasing hydrogen content in argon shielding gas increases the δ-ferrite content of weld metal. Increasing either nitrogen content in shielding gas or welding speed decreases the δ-ferrite content of weld metal. The nitrogen addition increases the weld metal nitrogen content, however, the hydrogen addition leads to a decrease of weld metal nitrogen content.