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PIPE TOC

Proceedings of OMAE’02
Proceedings
21st International Conference on Offshore Mechanics of Engineering
and Arctic OMAE’02
21st International Conference on23–28,
June Offshore
2002, Mechanics
Oslo, Norway
and Artic Engineering
June 23-28, 2002,Oslo, Norway

OMAE2002-28294
OM294

FLOW ASSURANCE OF WET GAS PIPELINES FROM A CORROSION VIEWPOINT

Rolf Nyborg Arne Dugstad


Materials and Corrosion Technology Department Materials and Corrosion Technology Department
Institute for Energy Technology Institute for Energy Technology
P.O. Box 40, N-2027 Kjeller, Norway P.O. Box 40, N-2027 Kjeller, Norway
Tel. +47 6380 6266, fax +47 6380 6258 Tel. +47 6380 6263, fax +47 6380 6258
e-mail: rolf.nyborg@ife.no e-mail: arne.dugstad@ife.no

ABSTRACT
In many offshore oil and gas projects under development, The presence of CO2, H2S and free water in unprocessed or
the pipeline costs are a considerable part of the investment and partially processed well streams can cause severe corrosion
can become prohibitively high if the corrosivity of the fluid problems in carbon steel pipelines. The most important factors
necessitates the use of corrosion resistant alloys instead of governing the corrosivity of the well stream are the amount of
carbon steel. Development of more robust and reliable methods CO2 and H2S, temperature and the water chemistry. Selection of
for internal corrosion control can increase the application range corrosion control methods in wet gas pipelines depends to a
of carbon steel and therefore have a large economic impact. large degree on whether any formation water will be transported
in the pipeline, the composition of the water, the degree of
Corrosion control of carbon steel pipelines has traditionally water condensation in the pipeline and whether glycol will be
often been managed by the use of corrosion inhibitors. The pH injected for hydrate control.
stabilization technique has been successfully used for corrosion
control of several large wet gas condensate pipelines in the last When no or very little formation water is transported in the
few years. Precipitation of scale and salts in the pipeline and pipeline the pH stabilization technique can be used for
process equipment creates further challenges when formation corrosion control. This technique is based on an artificial
water is produced. increase in the pH of the water phase by adding pH stabilizing
agents. This promotes precipitation of protective corrosion
Different corrosion prediction models are used in the product films on the steel surface. The pH stabilization
industry to assess the corrosivity of the transported fluid. An technique is currently being considered for several large wet gas
overview of the present models is given together with a link to condensate pipelines.
fluid flow modeling.
When formation water is produced, the possibility for
INTRODUCTION precipitation of scale and salts in the pipeline and process
Multiphase transport will have a major impact on offshore equipment creates further challenges for both pipeline and
development during the next decade. In the past the emphasis process equipment design. Corrosion control of carbon steel
has been on processing the multiphase well stream by pipelines is then often managed by the use of corrosion
separation on platforms situated close to the wells. Drastic inhibitors, but it has been difficult to account for the effects of
reductions in both investments and operating costs can be multiphase flow on corrosion inhibition in laboratory screening
achieved when unprocessed or partially processed multiphase tests. New test methods and equipment are being developed in
well streams are transported in carbon steel pipelines from order to account for the effect of multiphase flow and steel
satellite wells to main platforms, to existing installations on surface conditions.
neighbouring fields or to onshore processing facilities. Field
development by subsea installations or only partial processing
topside followed by transport in carbon steel pipelines represent
the only economical solutions for many gas fields.

1 Copyright © 2002 by ASME


CO2 CORROSION OF CARBON STEEL
Internal corrosion of carbon steel used in oil and gas
pipelines is influenced by a large number of parameters. Some
of the most important are temperature, CO2 partial pressure, pH
of the water phase, flow regime and velocity, concentration of
dissolved corrosion products, presence of acetic acid, water
wetting, and the microstructure, composition and surface
condition of the steel. A small change in one of these
parameters may influence the corrosion rate considerably. This
is attributed to changes in the properties of the thin layer of
corrosion products and scale which accumulates on the steel
surface. The properties of this corrosion product film
determines whether the corrosion rate becomes very high (no
protective films) or low (protective corrosion films). The layer
also interacts with corrosion inhibitor adherence to the surface
and therefore plays an important role for inhibitor performance.

When very small amounts of corrosion products deposit on


the steel surface, generally very high uniform corrosion rates of
Figure 1. Local corrosion attack in oil pipeline
several mm/y are obtained, even at low temperatures and high
pH values. This "worst case" corrosion is the easiest type to
study and reproduce in the laboratory, and several prediction Some flowlines from fields in the Norwegian sector have
models have been developed for this type of corrosion. suffered serious localized attacks, as shown in Figure 1. In one
case penetration rates as high as 5-10 mm/year were observed
When the solubility product for iron carbonate or other and replacement had to be done. The line had been in operation
scales is exceeded these constituents can precipitate and deposit for some years without problems. Changes in the well
on the steel surface giving a dense and protective corrosion composition over time led to more aggressive conditions giving
product film. The prediction of corrosion rates when films with unacceptably high corrosion rates. For practical purposes it is
protective properties are formed is much more complicated than important to understand the underlying mechanism and to be
worst case predictions due to the probabilistic nature of able to predict whether localized corrosion will be initiated, and
corrosion film formation. The corrosion film formation is how it can be prevented.
strongly dependent on the solubility and precipitation rate of
iron carbonate, which again is influenced by temperature, pH, THE pH STABILIZATION TECHNIQUE
flow rate and the composition and microstructure of the The corrosion rate of gas condensate pipelines can be
corroding steel. Experiments have shown that precipitation of substantially reduced by increasing the pH artificially. The
FeCO3 is a slow, temperature dependent process, and that a high technique is called pH stabilization. It was first used by Elf and
degree of supersaturation can be maintained in a corroding has been used for corrosion control in several corrosive gas
system. The precipitation of iron carbonate is facilitated by condensate pipelines by Elf and Statoil [3-5]. The reduction in
increased pH, increased temperature and by all measures which corrosion rate is based on the precipitation of protective
can reduce the transport of reactants and corrosion products to corrosion products on the steel surface. When corrosion product
and from the steel surface [1, 2]. Periods of shutdown and the films are formed, it is the transport of reactants and corrosion
presence of mill scale or rust from tube manufacturing and products through the film which governs the corrosion rate.
storing may also reduce the risk for high corrosion rates. Corrosion film properties like porosity, thickness and
composition therefore become important. All these properties are
Localized corrosion or mesa attack is the most feared type strongly related to the iron carbonate precipitation process which
of corrosion attack in pipelines and flowlines. This attack is depends very much on pH and temperature.
usually associated with high flow rates and is characterized by
the formation of severely corroded regions separated with sharp The pH stabilization technique is very well suited to be
steps from neighbouring areas with much less attack. Mesa used in combination with glycol as hydrate preventer, as the pH
attack develops when the protective corrosion film on the steel stabilizer will remain in the regenerated glycol. This means that
surface is destroyed locally. The mechanism is based on a fine there is no need for continuous renewal. The pH stabilization
balance between film growth and corrosion with subsequent technique has been used in Italy, the Netherlands and Norway
film removal. The corrosion rates in the mesa attacked areas are with very good experience. Corrosion rates below 0.1 mm/year
in the same order as the "worst case" corrosion on steel without have been reported for all systems, even when the CO2 partial
protective films. pressure is higher than 10 bar (145 psi). Before the technique

2 Copyright © 2002 by ASME


was approved for the Lille-Frigg field in Norway in 1992, a
research program was carried out at Institute for Energy
Technology (IFE) where the performance of MDEA
(Methyldiethanolamine) as pH stabilizer was studied. The
experiments showed that when pH was increased to 6.5 by 2 x 36" production pipelines
adding MDEA corrosion rates well below 0.1 mm/year could be Slug catcher Gas conditioning
obtained. The predicted corrosion rates without pH stabilizer
were more than 10 mm/year. Since then a large number of flow 4" glycol
loop and glass cell experiments have been carried out at IFE supply pipeline

with such systems.


Lean MEG Glycol/condensate
MEG regeneration separation
storage tank
MDEA is an organic amine base and from an
environmental point of view it is not the ideal candidate for
systems where the pH stabilizer is not fully regenerated. In Figure 2. Overview of the Troll gas field
order to study the pH stabilization technique in more detail and
to find alternative additives, a joint industry project was
conducted at IFE in the period 1993-1996. The main objective roughly 300 m and in order to minimize the size of the offshore
for the project was to find environmentally friendly additive production facilities, it was decided to only do a simple
chemicals which could be used to increase and stabilize the pH processing with free water knock-out offshore and to do the
of the well stream, so that sufficient and permanent corrosion main processing onshore. As more water will condense in the
protection of wet gas pipelines was achieved. Much of the work pipelines as the temperature decreases, this solution involved
was concentrated on the use of sodium bicarbonate as pH that corrosive fluids had to be transported in two 36" pipelines
stabilizer. A large number of flow loop and glass cell experi- from the platform and a distance of 66 km to shore.
ments were carried out in order to study the effect of variables
like the CO2 partial pressure, temperature, the concentration and The Troll field is a sweet gas field with a CO2 content of
type of hydrate preventer, the flow velocity and the pH [6]. The 0.3 % giving a CO2 partial pressure of 0.3 - 0.4 bar (4.4-5.8
experiments showed that protective films form in a short time at psi). The inlet and outlet temperature is 50 and 5 °C respec-
temperatures between 40 and 100 °C, reducing the corrosion tively. In order to control the hydrate formation and the
rate to less than 0.1 mm/year. At lower temperatures around 20 corrosion rate of the pipeline, 90 wt% monoethylene glycol
°C the iron carbonate precipitation is very slow, and it may take (MEG) was injected at the inlet of the pipeline. Due to the low
several months to obtain protective corrosion films, but with a CO2 content it was decided to use glycol addition only for
low corrosion rate at 20 °C it can be accepted to wait several corrosion control with a rather large corrosion allowance. The
months for a protective corrosion film is formed. target was to reach a corrosion rate of less than 0.2 mm/year.
The amount of MEG had to be increased above what was
The pH-stabilization technique is now also being taken into needed for hydrate control in order to reach this corrosion rate.
use in fields with mixed systems of H2S and CO2. Here the A simplified sketch of the system is shown in Figure 2.
precipitating corrosion product films will be iron sulfide instead
of iron carbonate. Localized corrosion in the form of pitting During the first year of production, precipitation of
may become critical in this environment. The target pH is not as corrosion products from the pipeline lead to a severe problem in
obvious for CO2/H2S systems as it is for pure CO2 systems. In a the MEG regeneration units. The precipitation took place in the
recently finished joint industry project at IFE the chemical heat exchangers and boilers when the pressure was reduced and
additions required for using the pH stabilization technique in the temperature increased. Some of the iron formed scales on
systems with moderate amounts of CO2 and H2S were the surfaces in the heat exchangers and the boilers and some
determined. An ongoing follow-up project will determine the precipitated as particles in the bulk phase. These particles
application limits for the pH-stabilization technique in wet gas recirculated and settled in the low flow areas like tanks, drums,
pipelines with high content of H2S and CO2 in the gas. slug catcher, etc. The estimated amount of corrosion products
was 20 tons the first year of operation. This was not regarded as
A major application for the pH stabilization technique has a corrosion problem in the pipelines, but as a process problem
been the Troll pipelines [4, 5]. The Troll field, originally in the onshore facilities. In order to reduce the amount of
developed by Shell and operated by Statoil, is a large gas- dissolved corrosion products produced due to corrosion of the
condensate offshore field in the Norwegian sector of the North pipeline, it was decided by Statoil to reduce the corrosivity by
Sea. The field started operation in mid 1996. The maximum applying the pH stabilization method.
production rate is up to 100 million Sm3/day. The water depth is

3 Copyright © 2002 by ASME


200 However, under some conditions (high target pH and high CO2
Injection of partial pressure) the demand for pH stabilizer can be so high
NaOH started Total iron that the solubility limit for the pH stabilizer is exceeded.
Dissolved iron
150 Injection rate of
The pH stabilizer is usually regenerated together with the
NaOH increased
glycol and the consumption is therefore very low. For once
/ ppm

through systems and methanol systems, however, the cost of pH


100
stabilizing chemicals might be a limiting factor. Replenishment
2+

of pH stabilizer may also become costly for systems where even


Fe

small amounts of formation water is carried over from the


50 Injection of NaOH stopped
offshore processing. When the glycol is regenerated, the salts
will usually remain in the regenerated glycol. This leads to an
accumulation of salts in the glycol, and at least parts of the
0 circulating glycol has to be desalted in order to avoid excessive
0 30 60 90 120 150 salt build-up and eventually massive salt precipitation in the
Time / days system. Desalting will usually remove also the pH stabilizer,
which will be in ionic form in the pipeline, and this will require
replenishment of the pH stabilizer. Even a small formation
Figure 3. Iron content after pH stabilization
water carry-over may then require considerable replenishment
of the pH stabilizer. An optimum system design for use of the
The pH based on the CO2 partial pressure and pure pH stabilization technique will require a thorough evaluation of
condensed water is about 4.2, but due to build-up of both target pH, scale formation, salt accumulation and
bicarbonate produced by the corrosion process in the system, precipitation, and techniques for salt removal and glycol
the actual pH at the outlet of the pipeline prior to pH regeneration.
stabilization was about 6. Based on the results from laboratory
testing and calculations with the pH-stabilization model USE OF CORROSION INHIBITORS
developed at IFE, it was decided to increase the bicarbonate The pH stabilization technique can not be used for oil
concentration to achieve pH 7.4 in the section of the pipeline pipelines or for gas condensate pipelines where large amounts
operating at 20 °C. This required a total amount of 50 mmol/l of formation water will be transported. For such pipelines
bicarbonate in the pipeline. For practical reasons, the pH addition of corrosion inhibitors is the most used corrosion
stabilizer was injected as a liquid solution of 22 wt% NaOH control method. New corrosion inhibitors are being conti-
into the lean MEG tank which is operated at ambient pressure. nuously developed to handle more aggressive conditions, or to
comply with more stringent environmental regulations.
The iron content in the slug catcher before and after the pH
stabilization is shown in Figure 3. The amount of corrosion Selection and qualification of inhibitors in the laboratory
products circulating in the system decreased very fast during the prior to implementation in the field is essential, and most often
treatment period. The concentration of dissolved Fe2+ which has dedicated laboratory experiments will have to be performed
the potential to form scale in the process equipment was with candidate inhibitors for each field or pipeline. A number of
reduced from around 100 ppm to less than 5 ppm after 6 weeks. factors may influence inhibition in multiphase pipelines. Factors
This corresponds to a corrosion rate far below 0.1 mm/year. such as temperature, water-oil partitioning, water chemistry, and
Very little precipitation takes place in the MEG process system flow conditions have been widely studied. Less attention has in
today and it has been operated with success since the treatment the past been given to factors like the composition and
was carried out in the end of 1997. microstructure of the steel, to the type of corrosion products
formed on the steel surfaces, to inhibitor adsorption on
The pH stabilization technique can be an interesting suspended particles in the produced water, and to inhibitor
alternative for many gas condensate fields. The technique can accumulation on bubbles and oil/water droplets.
not be used for pipelines carrying large quantities of formation
water containing calcium, strontium or barium due to formation Previous work at Institute for Energy Technology has
of carbonate scale. When the pH is increased to 1 - 2 units, the shown that the microstructure of the steel and corrosion
solubility of these cations will be considerably reduced. products on the steel surface can strongly affect inhibitor
performance in laboratory tests [7, 8]. In some experiments the
A technical limitation can be the transport, deployment and inhibitor performed well on one steel where the surfaces had
consumption of the pH stabilizer in the field. As long as glycol been precorroded for different times, while for another steel the
is used to combat hydrate formation, a convenient method is to inhibitor performance was very poor on surfaces with corrosion
transport and inject the pH stabilizer together with the glycol. products present [8]. Fresh ground steel surfaces are never

4 Copyright © 2002 by ASME


encountered in the field, and therefore it is now recommended The model developed by de Waard and coworkers has for
to precorrode the specimens before adding inhibitor in a test. several years been the most widely used CO2 corrosion model
Furthermore, it is essential to use the actual pipeline steel in [10, 11]. The model represents a best fit to a large number of
laboratory tests, or at least a steel with similar composition and corrosion flow loop data generated at Institute for Energy
microstructure. Technology [12]. The model takes relatively little account for
the effect of protective corrosion films, especially at high
Laboratory testing of inhibitors should closely reproduce temperature above 90 °C or at high pH. The model includes an
the conditions of the field. It is therefore essential to identify on/off factor for oil wetting in crude oil systems. Oil wetting
which factors are critical for inhibitor performance for the and no corrosion is assumed when the water cut is below 30 %
particular application and take them into account in the testing and the liquid velocity is above 1 m/s.
programme. This problem has been investigated in a recently
finished joint industry project at Institute for Energy The Cassandra model is BP's implementation of the de
Technology, where the critical factors for inhibition in Waard model including BP's experience in using this model
multiphase flow have been identified and studied in detail. A [13]. In this model a pH calculation module is included, where
follow-up project has been started where the objectives are to the pH value is calculated from the CO2 content, temperature
develop test equipment, test procedures and inhibitor selection and full water chemistry. The model gives less credit for
criteria that take properly into account the critical parameters protective films at high temperature than the de Waard model.
controlling inhibition in multiphase oil and gas pipelines. This Oil wetting effects are not included in this model.
includes the effect of partitioning between the water and oil
phases, the effect of emulsions on inhibition, the effect of The Norsok model [14, 15] is an empirical model mainly
accumulated corrosion products on the steel surface and the based on laboratory data at low temperature and a combination
interaction between corrosion inhibitor and suspended solids. of lab and field data at temperatures above 100 °C. The model
has been developed by the Norwegian oil companies Statoil,
CO2 CORROSION PREDICTION MODELS Norsk Hydro and Saga Petroleum. The model is fitted to much
Different oil companies and research institutions have of the same IFE lab data [12] as the de Waard 95 model, but
developed a large number of prediction models for CO2 includes in addition more recent experiments at 100 - 150 °C.
corrosion of carbon steel. Very different results can be obtained The model takes larger account for the effect of protective
when the models are run for the same cases due to the different corrosion films and therefore predicts lower corrosion rates at
philosophies used in the development of the models [9]. Most high temperature and high pH than the de Waard model. The
of the differences result from the modeling of the effects of oil model does not account for any effect of oil wetting.
wetting and protective corrosion films. Some of the models
predict corrosion rates based on full water wetting and little Cormed is a prediction tool developed for wells by Elf,
protection from corrosion product films. These models have a based on a detailed analysis of Elf Aquitaine's field experience
built-in conservatism and can overpredict the corrosion attack on CO2 corrosion [16]. It predicts the corrosivity of wells as
significantly for many cases. Other models assume protection either a low risk, medium risk or a high risk for attack. Free
from oil wetting or formation of protective corrosion films and acetic acid is identified as a very important parameter for the
predict generally much lower corrosion rates. These models corrosion prediction. Cormed has been much used for pH
often rely to a larger degree on the company's field experience calculations for formation water.
of conditions where the corrosion rates have been at an
acceptably low level. It is important to understand how the The Lipucor corrosion prediction program [17] is
corrosion prediction models handle especially the effects of oil developed by Total and is based on both laboratory results and a
wetting and protective corrosion films when the models are large amount of field data. The model indicates whether the
used for corrosion evaluation of large pipelines. Most of the corrosion will be general or localized and gives an evaluation of
models are not intended for use in situations where H2S or the severity of the expected corrosion. The model includes
organic acids dominates the corrosion process. strong effects of oil wetting, and the correlation with field data
makes this model considerably less conservative than laboratory
One of the most crucial aspects in corrosion evaluation of models where oil wetting effects are not included.
oil and gas wells and pipelines is to obtain a realistic estimate of
the actual pH in the water phase. When formation water is The Hydrocor model has been developed by Shell to
produced it is important to obtain good water analysis data, combine corrosion and fluid flow modeling. CO2 corrosion
especially with respect to bicarbonate and organic acids. For models are coupled to models for multiphase flow, pH
condensed water the pH may increase due to bicarbonate calculation and iron carbonate precipitation [18, 19]. This
produced by corrosion. The actual pH in the pipeline must be enables calculations of the corrosion rate over a pipeline
calculated from the CO2 partial pressure, temperature, profile. An oil wetting factor is used for crude oil systems, but
bicarbonate content in the water and ionic strength. not for gas condensate. Oil wetting and no corrosion is assumed

5 Copyright © 2002 by ASME


when the water cut is below 40 % and the liquid velocity is A collection of models for predicting corrosion rates in
above 1.5 m/s [19]. The effect of protective corrosion films is multiphase flow has been developed at the Corrosion in
relatively small in this model. Multiphase Systems Center at Ohio University [26]. The model
has a strong effect of protective films and includes also oil
The KSC Model is a mechanistic model for CO2 corrosion wetting effects. The model has a very strong pH dependence
with protective corrosion films developed at Institute for Energy due to large effects of H+ mass transport limitation, which tends
Technology [20]. The model is based on an electrochemical to give very low corrosion rates when the pH value is above 5.
model [21] by building it together with a transport model. The The model has less effect of temperature on the corrosion rate
different electrochemical, chemical and transport processes are than most of the other models.
simulated. The properties of the protective corrosion films are
correlated with a large number of loop experiments. The model The ULL corrosion model consists of a package of
includes a relatively strong effect of protective corrosion films programs developed for gas condensate wells by the University
which is sensitive to pH and temperature, and therefore tends to of Louisiana at Lafayette [27]. The model calculates
predict low corrosion rates for high temperature and high pH. temperature and pressure profiles, flow rates and flow regime
The model does not take any effect of oil wetting into account. and then calculates the pH profile and predicts the corrosion
rate profile along the well. The model puts much weight on
The CO2 corrosion model for pipe flow conditions calculating phase equilibria and flow regime. It typically
developed at the University of Tulsa is a mechanistic single- predicts oil wetting and no corrosion for the part of the tubing
phase flow model with detailed modeling of the kinetics of where hydrocarbon condensation is predicted to occur, and
electrochemical reactions and mass transfer [22]. The model corrosion when only water condenses.
puts much emphasis on flow modeling and has a high sensitivity
to flow velocity, but no effect of oil wetting. The model has a The corrosion model developed by OLI Systems combines
very strong effect of protective corrosion films. This effect is a thermodynamic model for the concentration of molecular and
highly dependent of pH, and the model is therefore very ionic species of aqueous systems with an electrochemical
sensitive to variation in pH, with low corrosion rates usually corrosion model and a model for formation and dissolution of
predicted when the pH value is above 5. iron carbonate or sulfide scales [28]. The model is based on
detailed thermodynamic calculation of the phase equilibria and
The Predict model is developed by InterCorr International the concentration of the different species in the system. The
[23]. The basic part of the model is based on the de Waard model includes effects of protective corrosion films, but does
model, but other correction factors are used together with a so- not take any effect of oil wetting into account.
called effective CO2 partial pressure calculated from the system
pH. The model includes very strong effects of oil wetting and The Electronic Corrosion Engineer model developed by
protective corrosion films, and this tends to give very low Intetech is based on the de Waard 95 model, but with a module
corrosion rates for many situations. The model has a very strong for calculation of pH from the water chemistry and bicarbonate
pH dependence on the corrosion rate, which tends to give low produced by corrosion, and a new oil wetting correlation, which
corrosion rates when the pH value is higher than 4.5. is dependent on the oil density, the liquid flow velocity and the
inclination of the flow [29]. The water cut where oil wetting
The prediction tool SweetCor is developed by Shell for becomes important can be 40 to 50 % for heavy crude oils and
analysis of CO2 corrosion by managing a large database of close to zero for light condensate.
corrosion data from laboratory experiments and field data [24].
Statistical analysis of the grouped data is used to make Most of the models described above are point models,
correlations for predicting corrosion rates for specific predicting the corrosion rate in a single point in a pipeline.
conditions. The model includes only a weak effect of protective However, the Hydrocor and Lipucor models include a fluid
corrosion films and does not include any effects of oil wetting. flow model giving temperature, pressure and corrosion rate
profiles along the pipeline. A corrosion module has been
Corpos is a tool developed by CorrOcean where input from included in the OLGA three-phase fluid flow model, where the
an external fluid flow model is combined with a point corrosion Norsok model and the de Waard model have been combined
model in order to calculate pH and corrosion rate along a with this fluid flow model in order to calculate corrosion rate
pipeline [25]. The Norsok model is used to calculate the profiles along a pipeline [30]. This makes it possible to
corrosion rate. A probability of water wetting is calculated calculate variations in corrosion rate along a pipeline due to
depending on water cut, flow regime, local phase velocities and variation in temperature and CO2 partial pressure, but it also
emulsion stability. This gives lower corrosion rates than the helps to identify locations where variation in flow regime, flow
Norsok model for pipelines with very low water cut. velocity and water accumulation may increase the risk for
corrosion damage.

6 Copyright © 2002 by ASME


technique is now also considered for fields with mixed systems
10
of H2S and CO2.
de Waard model The pH stabilization technique can not be used in systems
Corrosion rate / (mm/y)

Norsok model where formation water containing calcium, strontium or barium


is produced in large quantities due to formation of carbonate
scale. Even a small formation water carry-over may in some
5 cases cause scaling problems or require considerable replenish-
ment of the pH stabilizer. For such pipelines inhibition is the
most used corrosion control method. Selection and qualification
of inhibitors in the laboratory prior to implementation in the
field is essential, and laboratory testing of inhibitors should
reproduce closely the conditions of the field.

0 Several prediction models for CO2 corrosion of oil and gas


0 5000 10000 pipelines are available. The models have very different
Position / m approaches in accounting for oil wetting and the effect of
protective corrosion films, and this accounts for much of the
differences in behavior between the models. Some of the
Figure 4. Predicted corrosion rate in a pipeline models have a very strong effect of oil wetting for some flow
conditions, while other models do not consider oil wetting
An example of a simulation of corrosion risk in a subsea effects at all. Some models include strong effects of protective
gas condensate pipeline is shown in Figure 4. Duplex stainless iron carbonate films especially at high pH or high temperature.
steel was selected for this pipeline due to the high CO2 content, It is important to understand how the corrosion prediction
but in view of later development of corrosion prediction models models handle especially the effects of oil wetting and
and material selection philosophies, it is possible that carbon protective corrosion films when the models are used for
steel and inhibitors would have been selected for this pipeline corrosion evaluation of large pipelines.
today. The temperature was 90 °C at the inlet and 20 °C at the
outlet. The decrease in predicted corrosion rates towards the REFERENCES
end of the pipeline is mainly a result of the decreasing [1] Dugstad, A., 1992, "The importance of FeCO3
temperature [30]. The lower corrosion rates close to the supersaturation on the CO2 corrosion of carbon steels",
pipeline inlet are due to the effect of protective corrosion films CORROSION/92, Paper No. 14.
at high temperature. The peaks in predicted corrosion rates
result from variation in flow velocity around elevated points [2] Dugstad, A., 1998, "Mechanism of Protective Film
along the almost flat seabed. The differences in predicted Formation During CO2 Corrosion of Carbon Steel",
corrosion rates between the two models are mainly due to CORROSION/98, Paper No. 31.
stronger effects of protective corrosion films in the Norsok [3] Crolet, J.-L., and Samaran, J. P., 1993, "The use of
model at temperatures above 40 °C for this water chemistry. anti-hydrate treatment for the prevention of CO2 corrosion
in long crude gas pipelines", CORROSION/93, Paper No.
CONCLUSIONS 102.
Carbon steel can be used in combination with the pH
stabilization technique can be used for wet gas pipelines under [4] Olsen, S., Lunde, O., and Dugstad, A., 1999, "Stabilizing
conditions where stainless steel would otherwise be the only pH in Troll pipelines solves glycol-regen problems",
choice. Cost savings can be more than hundred million dollars Oil & Gas Journal, 97, no. 26, pp. 59-62.
for one pipeline alone. The technique is based on increasing the [5] Olsen, S., Lunde, O., and Dugstad, A., 1999, "pH-
pH in the water phase, thereby reducing the corrosion rate by Stabilization in the Troll Gas-Condensate Pipelines",
precipitation of protective corrosion products on the steel CORROSION/99, Paper No. 19.
surface. Protective films giving corrosion rates less than
0.1 mm/y are easily formed in the temperature range 40 to [6] Dugstad, A., and Drønen, P.-E., 1999, "Efficient
100 °C with the pH stabilization technique. It takes longer time Corrosion Control of Gas Condensate Pipelines by
to obtain protection at lower temperatures. The most convenient pH-Stabilisation", CORROSION/99, Paper No. 20.
way to transport and inject the pH stabilizer in the field is to
mix it with the hydrate preventer, when it usually will be
regenerated together with the glycol. The pH-stabilization

7 Copyright © 2002 by ASME


[7] Gulbrandsen, E., Nyborg, R., Løland, T., and Nisancioglu, [19] Pots, B. F. M., John, R. C., Rippon, I. J., Thomas,
K., 2000, "Effect of Steel Microstructure and M. J. J. S., Kapusta, S. D., Girgis, M. M., and Whitham,
Composition on Inhibition of CO2 Corrosion", T., 2002, "Improvements on de Waard - Milliams
CORROSION/2000, Paper No. 23. Corrosion Prediction and Applications to Corrosion
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8 Copyright © 2002 by ASME

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