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Corrosion Basics Potential external sources of corrosion: - Drilling muds (for drill bit cooling and spark prevention) - H2O/CO2 (used in secondary recovery) - Acid (used in scale removal) - High velocity/formation sand - H2S High corrosion areas: replace carbon steel to chromium steel or corrosion resistant alloy Mechanism: similar to battery - Metal anode to cathode - Electrolyte water (usually) Corrosion Sites and Controls 1. Offshore Structures - Insulation (e.g. zinc primer paint) - Sacrificial anodes - Increasing metal thickness (at splash zone) - Cathodic protection (usage of reverse current at tidal zone) 2. Drill Pipe - Doping (lubrication) 3. Mud Corrosion - Oxygen scavenger (Sodium/Ammonium sulfide) - High pH conditions (H2S/CO2 acid neutralization) - Triazine and other biocides (bacterial control) - CO2 reduction (calcium hydroxide) 4. Completion - Cement - Gravel packing (countermeasures to sand blasting) - Inhibitors (removal of spent acid) 5. Production - Inhibitors (batch/continuous used in gas condensate wells) - Cathodic protection - Natural scaling Corrosion Mechanisms 1. Electrochemical - Galvanic (two metals in contact)

Corrosion Basics

01/10/2013

Crevice (creation of oxygen depleted areas and pitting) Stray current corrosion (natural AC/DC current in Earth)

2. Chemical - Sulfur (H2S, polysulfides, sulfur) - CO2 (carbonic acid formation leading to siderite formation) - Strong acids (used to increase formation permeability) - Concentrated brine (used to balance formation pressures) 3. Biological - H2S generation from anaerobic microbial activity 4. Mechanical - Cavitation (high pressure shock waves that collapse minute bubbles) - Erosion (abrasion at high velocity) - Erosion corrosion (corrosion accelerated by erosion) - Corrosion fatigue (alternating stresses in corrosive environment) - Sulfide stress corrosion (exposure to H2 or H2S under tensile stress conditions) - Chloride stress cracking (exposure of austenite steel above 95C under tensile stress conditions) - Stress corrosion cracking (pit or notch initiation which leads to more corrosion) Corrosion Monitoring 1. Structure - Visual inspection - Non Destructive Testing (NDT), e.g. magnetic particle testing 2. Drill pipe - Installation of coupon rings (monitor loss of material due to corrosion from rings) - Ultrasonic/X-ray inspection 3. Mud - Property monitoring of mud (e.g. physical properties; chemical properties such as O2 level, H2S level, bacterial contamination) 4. Casing/Tubing - Multi-finger caliper run (risk of damaging tubes if grooves are made too deep) - Ultrasonic caliper 5. Pipelines - Installation of coupon rings - Recovery of pipes after failure (to determine the cause, effect and magnitude of corrosion) - Logging using PIGs

Corrosion Basics

01/10/2013

Important Terms Terms Scaling Definition - Buildup of material in pipe lining over time (scales) - Decreases capacity of pipes, resulting in reduced flow velocities and high pressures - Caused by minerals present in the flow material - Replacement of natural reservoir drive with artificial reservoir drive - Done by injecting fluids into reservoir to increase reservoir pressure - Pipeline Inspection Gauge - Used in maintenance operations - Does not disrupt flow of materials in pipe during operation

Secondary processing PIG

Corrosion Basics

01/10/2013

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