Sweet Corrosion Rate in Oil and Gas Pipelines

Last Updated Thursday, 03 June 2010 01:02

Corrosion Determination

The principal method of sweet corrosion assessment in the pipelines is as follows [1]:

Corrosion Rates
The not corrected corrosion rate in pipelines containing sweet hydrocarbon can be calculated using the following equation:

Where,

? =corrosion rate (mm/yr)

t =temperature in C.

FCO 2 =fugacity of CO 2 in bar.

= partial pressure of CO 2 (in bar) x fugacity coefficient

fugacity coefficient = 10

(0.0031 - 1.4 / (t + 273) x total pressure)

The following factors have been derived to adjust the corrosion rates determined from above

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Sweet Corrosion Rate in Oil and Gas Pipelines

Last Updated Thursday, 03 June 2010 01:02

equation, by de Waard & Smith [2], dependent upon the process stream constituents.

Carbonate Scaling Factor, F(s)

The existence of a tenacious iron carbonate film reduces the corrosion rate [4]. The effect of scaling is determined by:

Log F(s)=10

(2400/(T)-0.6*Log(FCO )-6.7) 2

Scaling will only occur at temperatures greater than the scaling temperature, T (K), which is defined by:

T(scale) = 2400/ (6.7 + 0.6(FCO 2 ))

Condensation Factor, F(c)

For wet gas transport, cooling rates and flow rates in pipelines are normally such that condensation rate are far below 0.25 g/(m 2 .s) and for such systems, taking F(c) = 0.1 will cover all conditions in a conservative manner, without having to actually calculate the condensation rates [6]. Therefore:

F(c)=1/10 for hydrocarbon gas lines.

This factor should only be applied for top of the line corrosion considerations.

Oil Factor F(o)

In hydrocarbon liquid lines with less than 30% water cut and a velocity exceeding 1 m/s, the oil may coat the pipe/equipment surface and prevent corrosion. However, for water cuts in excess of 30% or velocities below 1 m/s protection is not achieved by surface oiling, therefore:

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Sweet Corrosion Rate in Oil and Gas Pipelines

Last Updated Thursday, 03 June 2010 01:02

F(o)=0 if water cut < 30% and crude velocity >1 m/s

otherwise

F(o)=1

Glycol Factor, F(g)

Glycol has a significant inhibiting effect, being related to the water content. The effect is represented by the formula [7]:

log(F(g)) =1.6[log(W%)] - 3.2

Where,

W%=water content/glycol mixture in wt%

It should be noted that the Glycol Factor, F(g) should not be used in combination with the Corrosion Inhibitor Factor, F(i).

A W% value of approximately 25% would be required to satisfy the reduction in corrosion rates to acceptable levels to enable carbon steel with a corrosion allowance to be applied.

Influence of PH
The original formula for calculating corrosion rate is based on this assumption that that the free water is the condensed water vapor and consequently, it is water without any dissolved buffering agents. In multiphase systems, there may be formation water present that contains dissolved salts that act to buffer the pH. If the water pH is higher (less acidic) than would be the

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Sweet Corrosion Rate in Oil and Gas Pipelines

Last Updated Thursday, 03 June 2010 01:02

case with no buffering agent present, then the rate of corrosion will be reduced.

A pH factor can be calculated from the empirical formula:

log F(pH) = -0.13(pH measured pH calculated ) 1.6

Where the calculated pH is derived from:

pH = 3.71 -0.5.log(pCO2) + 0.00471.t

Note that the measured pH should be obtained from well fluids at the operational pressure and temperature.

References: 1. De Waard & Lotz

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