Abstract: The security of energy supply and sustainable and safe energy
production are two main research topics of the Institute for Energy of the
Joint Research Center. To lower the risks, for people and the environment,
involved in fuel production and petroleum refining, studies and tests are
carried out at the Institute on the degradation of low-alloy ferritic steel
under petrorefinery service simulated conditions. In this frame, and for
industrial purposes, a reliable assessment of damage level by means of
non-destructive techniques is a key factor. This paper presents the results of
magnetic measurements, in particular the Barkhausen method, on ferritic steels
previously exposed to service simulated conditions, and in air. The results
show a good potential for this magnetic method to detect changes due to the
exposure of the steels to the different environments and, in particular, the
degree of damage due to hydrogen attack. A correlation between the results of
magnetic and hardness measurements is currently under investigation, but not
yet presented in this outline.
