EROSION, CORROSION AND EROSION-CORROSION OF OIL AND GAS PIPELINE STEELS

Abstract

Oil and gas industry spends millions of dollars every year dealing with problems caused by erosion-corrosion. During the transportation of oil and gas, pipes are exposed to flowing corrosive environment which causes erosion-corrosion. The high degradation rates attributed to this mechanism can create increased challenges to project economy and operation where material integrity, accurate erosion-corrosion rate prediction and long term performance are key concerns. Although the problem caused by the interaction of erosion and corrosion is severe, the mechanism of synergy is still not thoroughly understood because of its complexity. This research focuses on understanding the degradation processes of pipeline steels in CO2 containing salt water. The application of cyclic erosion-corrosion allowed the individual contribution of erosion and corrosion components of mass loss to be quantified and mechanisms by which erosion affects corrosion and vice-versa to be identified. The present research also correlates erosion and corrosion response of steel to its microstructure.