In today’s energy sector, innovation is key to advancing in more sustainable technologies among which hydrogen plays a very important role. Tubacex, a global leader in advanced industrial products and services in stainless steels and high nickel alloys, mainly in tubular solutions, has been at the forefront of these efforts. The company’s dedicated divisions – Tubacex Innovación and Tubacex Premium Connections – have played pivotal roles in developing cutting-edge solutions that support the industry’s energy transition.
Sentinel® Prime: A New Generation of Premium Connections in Energy
After an eight-year R&D journey, Tubacex unveiled its proprietary Sentinel® Prime premium connection technology in November 2024. This breakthrough product developed through close collaboration between Tubacex Innovación’s multidisciplinary scientists and the Tubacex Premium Connections engineering team. They gathered their expertise in high-end materials engineering, ensuring integrity in high corrosive environments and the knowledge in connection design for an optimized thread geometry and sealing technology to achieve maximum reliability
Sentinel® Prime is described as an “innovative and reliable new generation premium connection” allowing Tubacex to join “the ranks of a select few globally” that possess proprietary premium connection designs built to exceed the industry’s most demanding standards .
The advanced capabilities of Sentinel® Prime underscore its importance in modern energy operations. Designed for superior performance in extreme conditions, it offers leak-proof, high-pressure integrity ideal for today’s challenging well environments
The successful development of Sentinel® Prime quickly translated into industry recognition. In a landmark move, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) became the first major operator to secure licensing rights for this technology. ADNOC’s adoption of Sentinel® Prime “reaffirms Tubacex’s technology leadership in the global market,” consolidating Tubacex’s standing as a premium connection leader and demonstrating the value of eight years of innovation coming to fruition.
Leveraging Know-How for Hydrogen: Tubacex in the DESSERT Project
In parallel with its achievements, Tubacex is actively translating its expertise to support the clean energy transition. One example is the company’s involvement in the DESSERT project (short for Advanced thread connected production string for hydrogen storage in underground formations), a collaborative R&D initiative focused on next-generation hydrogen storage technology. Launched in mid-2024 with RFCS European funding (GA: 101157797), DESSERT aims to develop a new advanced stainless steel pipe and connection system for safely injecting and withdrawing hydrogen from underground reservoirs. Tubacex Innovación serves as the Project Coordinator, bringing together with Tubacex Premium Connections and other partners from industry and academia to tackle the unique challenges of underground hydrogen storage. By transferring the know-how gained from developing Sentinel® Prime, Tubacex helps the DESSERT project pioneer “cutting-edge materials and connection designs for hydrogen storage infrastructure,” addressing challenges such as the potential hydrogen embrittlement of steels and the assurance of the gas-tight seals and mechanical integrity under cyclic pressure loads.
In doing so, Tubacex Innovación and Premium Connections are helping ensure that hydrogen can be stored and utilized safely as a viable, sustainable energy resource.
Driving the Energy Transition – Learn More and Get Involved
Tubacex’s dual focus on premium connection innovation with Sentinel® Prime and hydrogen technology with the leadership of DESSERT project, underscores its commitment to leading the energy transition and the forward-looking vision toward cleaner energy solutions.
If you’re interested in learning more about Tubacex’s technology and innovation initiatives –we invite you to follow Tubacex’s updates and visit our official channels (www.sentinelconnections.com). Connect with us and discover how Tubacex is #ByYourSide in driving innovation for a sustainable energy future.