International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research Volume 1, Issue 4, May 2012

ISSN 2277-8616

Review of Corrosion Kinetics and

Thermodynamics of CO2 and H2S Corrosion
Effects and Associated Prediction/Evaluation on
Oil and Gas Pipeline System.
Obuka, Nnaemeka Sylvester P., Okoli Ndubuisi Celestine, Ikwu, Gracefield Reuben O., Chukwumuanya, Emmanuel Okechukwu
Abstract: In order to control the corrosion in pipelines, it is important to understand the underlying corrosion mechanisms and prediction of its
initiation and means of mitigation. This paper reviews the electrochemistry of corrosion, its kinetics and thermodynamic nature, with respect to
CO2 and H2S effects in propagating corrosion in oil and gas pipeline system. The phenomenon of polarization and its importance in the mitigation
of corrosion processes was highlighted in relation to its mechanisms. Several principles and models used in predicting and evaluating corrosion
kinetics were reviewed emphasizing their applicability in the oil and gas pipeline system. Scale formation on metal surface plays a prominent role
in the rate of corrosion propagation making the process more complex, hence the mathematical models to extract the parameters which
determine the effect of scale formation were appraised.
Keywords: Electrochemistry, Kinetics, Thermodynamic, Scale formation, Pipeline, Polarization, Corrosion

The condition for a spontaneous reaction, changing the state

of any material is that the reaction takes place with the release
of energy. If such a thermodynamic driving force exists for a
corrosion process, the next question is, at what rate or level of
effects does the particular corrosion proceed or have? [1]. The
presence of carbon(IV)oxide (CO2), hydrogen sulphide (H2S)
and free water can cause severe corrosion problems in oil and
gas pipelines. Internal corrosion in wells and pipelines is
influenced by temperature, CO2 and H2S content, water
chemistry, flow velocity, oil or water wetting and composition
and surface condition of the steel [2]. Corrosion by
carbon(IV)oxide with or without the presence of hydrogen
sulphide is an important issue in the oil and gas industry. The
severity of corrosion depends apart from the aforementioned
factors also on pressure, pH, composition of the aqueous
steam, partial pressures of CO2 and H2S and presence of non
aqueous phases [3]. Corrosion of steel by CO2 and CO2/H2S
has been one of the major problems in the oil and gas industry
since 1940. Recently, it has again come to the limelight,
because of the technique of CO2 injection for enhanced oil
recovery and exploitation of deep natural gas reservoirs
containing carbon(IV)oxide [4].

The effect of corrosion was found to supersede a simple mass

loss of metal, while galvanic cell formation due the presence of
these gaseous ions in oil and gas installations constitutes the
major agent of corrosion [5]. In the presence of CO2 corrosion
rate can be reduced substantially under conditions when
corrosion product, iron(III)trioxocarbonate(V)[FeCO3] can
precipitate on the steel surface and form a dense and
protective corrosion product film. This occurs more easily at
high temperature or high pH in the water phase. When
corrosion products are not deposited on the steel surface, very
high corrosion rates of several millimeters per year can occur.
When H2S is present in addition to CO2, iron sulphide (FeS)
films are formed than FeCO3. This protective film can be
formed at lower temperature, since FeS precipitates much
easier than FeCO3. Localized corrosion with very high
corrosion rates can occur when the corrosion product film
does not give sufficient protection, and this is the most feared
type of corrosion attack in oil and gas pipelines. The major
concern with CO2 corrosion in oil and gas industry is that CO2
corrosion can cause failure on the equipment especially the
main downhole tubing and transmission pipelines and thus
disrupt the oil and gas production. Its chemical reactions
include CO2 dissolution and hydration to form carbonic acids
as shown in (1) and (2);

The trioxocarbonate (V) acid then dissociates into bicarbonate

and carbonate in two steps as in (3) and (4)

1 INTRODUCTION

Obuka Nnaemeka Sylyester is currently pursuing doctor of

philisophy degree program in Industrial/Production engineering
department in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria, E-mail:
[email protected]
Okoli Ndubuisi Celestine; Ikwu Gracefield Reuben; and
Chukwumuanya Emmanuel Okechukwu are currently pursuing the
same degree program as the corresponding author in the same
department and in the same University.

CO2 corrosive action on iron is an electrochemical reaction

with the overall reaction given as;

156
IJSTR2012
www.ijstr.org

International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research Volume 1, Issue 4, May 2012
Hence, CO2 corrosion leads to the formation of a corrosion
product, FeCO3, which when precipitated could form a
protective or non-protective scale depending on the
environmental conditions of pH scale, temperature, etc. [6].
The internal corrosion of carbon steel in the presence of
hydrogen sulphide represents a significant problem for both oil
refineries and natural gas treatment facilities. The scale growth
which is one of the factors governing the corrosion rate is
dependent on the kinetics of surface scale formation. In an
H2S environment many types of iron sulphide may form such
as amorphous ferrous sulphide, mackinawite, cubic ferrous
sulphide, smythite, greigte, pyrrhotite, troilite and pyrite, among
which mackinawite is considered to form first on the steel
surface by a direct surface reaction [7]. The poorly known
mechanism of H2S corrosion makes it difficult to quantify the
kinetics of iron dissolution in aqueous solutions containing H2S
based on the formation of mackinawite film, as proposed by
Sun et al, 2008, is shown in figure 1. The understanding of the
effect of H2S on CO2 corrosion is still limited because of the
nature of the interaction with carbon steel is complicated.
Dissociation of dissolved H2S is given in (6);

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1 Corrosion Kinetics and Electrochemistry
Thermodynamic principles can explain a corrosion situation in
terms of the solubility of chemical species and reactions
associated
with
corrosion
processes.
However,
thermodynamic principles cannot be used to predict corrosion
current or corrosion rate [13]. On an electrode (pipeline)
immersed in an aqueous solution, both an oxidation and a
reduction may occur. These proceed as an oxidation of metal
atoms to ions and a reduction of metal atoms in accordance
with the equation;

An equilibrium potential ( ) is associated with each reaction.

When a current is applied to the electrode surface the
electrode potential charges and the electrode is said to be
polarized. The difference between this resultant potential (E)
and each electrodes reaction equilibrium potential ( ) is
called polarization or overpotential () and it is modeled as;

The polarization can be anodic or cathodic, when the

processes on the electrode are accelerated by moving the
potential in the positive or negative direction respectively.
There are there basic types of polarization, as expressed in
(11);

While the dissolution of HS- is given by equation (7);

Where

ISSN 2277-8616

and

In a H2S dominated system or CO2/H2S mixed system, the

direct reduction of H2S lowers the solutions pH as it acts as a
weak acid and increases the corrosion rate by providing an
extra cathodic reaction, similar to the action of
trioxocarbonate(V)acid, as shown in (8), [9].

However, when H2S is present in low concentration in a CO2

dominated system, the iron sulphide (FeS) film interferes with
the formation of the carbonate scale (FeCO2). This is of
interest because the iron sulphide film would seem to be more
easily removed from the pipe wall than the iron carbonate
scale [10]. Under turbulent conditions, removal of the
protective scale will lead to an increased corrosion rate [11].
The kinetics of surface scale formation in the CO2/H2S system
is complicated; depend on the competitive kinetics of the two
scale formation mechanism, and also on the chemistry of the
brine and the respective solubility of iron carbonate and iron
sulphides [12]. Corrosion process can therefore take place if
there is a thermodynamic force driving the process. The rate of
corrosion can, however, vary within wide limits. In certain
cases it can be large and cause serious damage to the
material, and other cases can be small, of little practical
importance. Therefore, it is imperative to study the mechanism
of these kinetics and thermodynamics of corrosion vis--vis
their effects on oil and gas pipeline system.

Where,
is the activation overpotential,
is the
concentration overpotential and
is the ohmic drop. The
expression relating the overpotential , to the net current i, is
the Butler-Volmer equation:

The first term in {} in Butler-Volmer describes the forward

(metal dissolution, anodic) reaction, while the second term in {}
describes the backward (metal deposition, cathodic) reaction
[14]. In the Butler-Volmer equation R, is gas constant; T, is the
absolute temperature; n, is the number of charges transferred
(valency); F, is the Faraday constant; , is the symmetry
coefficient and
, is the exchange current. Activation
polarization is a complex function describing the charge
transfer kinetics of an electrochemical reaction. It is always
present and the main polarization component at small
polarization currents or voltages. Activation overpotential is
usually the controlling factor during corrosion in strong acids
since both
and
are relatively small. Concentration
polarization is a function describing the mass transport
limitations associated with electrochemical processes and its
dominant at larger polarization currents or voltages. It usually
predominates when the concentration of the active species is
low. The ohmic drop takes into account the electrolytic
resistivity of an environment when the anodic and cathodic
elements of a corrosion reaction are separated by this
environment while still electrically coupled. The ohmic drop will
become an extremely important factor when studying
corrosion phenomena for which there is a clear separation of
157

IJSTR2012
www.ijstr.org

International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research Volume 1, Issue 4, May 2012
the anodic and cathodic corrosion sites, e.g. crevice corrosion.
It is also an important variable in the application of protective
methods such as anodic and cathodic protections that force
potential shift of protected structures by passing current into
the environment [15]. Knowledge about the kind of polarization
which is occurring can be very helpful in corrosion mitigation,
since it allows an assessment of the determining
characteristics of a corroding system. For example, if corrosion
is controlled by concentration polarization, then any change
that increases the diffusion rate of the active species (e.g.
oxygen) will also increase the corrosion rate. In such a system,
it would therefore be expected that agitating the liquid or
stirring it would tend to increase the corrosion rate of the metal,
as in case of a turbulent flow through the pipeline. However, if
a corrosion reaction is activation controlled then stirring or
increased agitation will have no effect on the corrosion rate.

2.2 Kinetics Data Graphics

In order to model a corrosion situation with mixed potential
diagrams, the information concerning the following must be
available; (1) activation overpotential for each corrosion
process involved and (2) any additional information for process
that could be affected by concentration overpotential.
According to the mixed-potential theory underlying these
diagrams, any electrochemical reaction can be algebraically
divided into separate oxidation and reduction reactions with no
net accumulation of electric charge. At this point the net
measurable current is zero and the corroding metal is charged
neutral.
2.2.1 Activation Overpotential Processes
In activation controlled corrosion processes (figure 2),
reactions are depicted by straight lines on an E versus Log i
plot, with positive Tafel slopes for anodic processes and
negative Tafel slopes for cathodic processes. Figure 2 is
polarization behavior of carbon steel in a deaerated solution
maintained at 25oC with a pH of zero. The outline is the
polarization plot and the dotted lines represent the anodic
reaction of (13) and the cathodic reaction of (14) that depict the
corrosion behavior of steel in these conditions.

The sharp peak observed at -0.221V vs Standard Hydrogen

Electrode (SHE) estimates the corrosion potential (
), while
the dotted lines from the point where the current crosses zero
i.e. infinity on a log scale, find the intercept which indicates the
cancellation between anodic and cathodic current. The current
density of 67A/cm2 evaluated in this example corresponds to
a penetration rate of 0.8mm/y. under the same condition but at
a different pH of five (figure 3), the shift of the
to a more
negative value of -0.368V vs SHE is observed. The modeled
projected lines provide a corrosion current of 4A/cm2
corresponding to a penetration of 0.5mm/y.

2.2.2 Concentration Overpotential Processes

In a concentration controlled process, one of the reactions is
limited by the rate of transport of the reactant to the metallic
surface being corroded. The system in this situation is at pH of
five, 25oC and the environment is both aerated and stagnant

ISSN 2277-8616

(figure 4). A second cathodic reaction is made possible by

oxygen reduction.

The intercept where the opposing current are balanced occurs

at an
of -0.33V vs SHE, with a current density of
8.2A/cm2 to a penetration of 0.1mm/y. when the reduction of
oxygen is enhanced through the agitation of the environment,
the limiting current is increased by a tenfold factor to reach the
value of 63A/cm2 a new situation emerges as depicted in
figure 5. The marked positive shift of
is now -0.224V vs
SHE, and accompanied by an increase in current density of
63A/cm2 at a penetration rate of 0.8mm/y.

3 CORROSION KINETICS PRINCIPLES, MODELS AND

RATES CALCULATION
There are three basic kinetics principles or laws that
characterize the oxidation rates of pure metals; (a) parabolic
rate law (b) logarithmic rate law and (c) linear rate law. These
laws are modeled respectively as follows:

The parabolic rate law makes the assumptions that the

concentrations of diffusing species at the oxide-metal and
oxide-gas interfaces are constant, and that the oxide layer has
to be uniform, continuous and of the single phase type. This
law is applicable to high temperature engineering problems.
While the logarithmic and the linear rate laws are both
empirical relationships. However, metals with linear oxidation
kinetics at a certain temperature have a tendency to undergo
the so-called catastrophic oxidation [16]. The analysis of paralinear kinetics behavior caused by a parabolic rate weight gain
and a linear weight loss that occur at the same time can be
carried out using the Tedmon equation:

In a situation where

, equation (19) becomes;

Where x, is the scale thickness;

is the parabolic rate
constant for scale growth;
, is the linear rate constant for
loss of scale by volatilization, and t, is time. The kinetics model
of (20), can be considered in terms of weight changes due to
high vapor pressure at temperatures above 500oC, to become;

By metallography, the extent of metal loss and scale thickness

can be determined through this model:

158
IJSTR2012
www.ijstr.org

International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research Volume 1, Issue 4, May 2012

ISSN 2277-8616

4 Modeling of Surface Scale Formation

Effects on Corrosion Rates
Where w, is the measured weight gain after time, t;
is the
total weight of the scale;
is the total weight of metal lost
from the specimen core; and
is the original specimen area.
Also using metallographic measurements, rate constants could
be calculated for the growth of the scale assuming parabolic
behavior and for metal loss assuming linear behavior, as can
be expressed by (23) and (24).

Where
, is the empirical parabolic rate constant for the
scale growth, and
is the empirical linear rate constant for
metal loss by vaporization. The rate of corrosion can be large,
causing serious damage to materials, some cases small, being
as a result of inhibition of one or more of the electrode
reactions. Extent of corrosion can be expressed in terms of; (i)
change in weight of the metal, (ii) depth of the surface zone
which has corroded away, (iii) number and quantity of pits
formed, (iv) amount of corrosion products and (v) changes in
the ultimate strength, yield strength or rupture strain of the
metal. Equation (25) expresses corrosion rate in terms of
mass loss, thus [17].

Where
is corrosion rate (mm/y);
is mass before
exposure (g);
is mass after exposure (g); A, is exposed
surface area (mm2);
is exposure time (hrs);
is density
(g/cm3) and K, is constant for unit conversion. The rate of
corrosion is also quantified through the relationship between
the corrosion current density (
) and metal dissolution
(corrosion) rate, as in (26):

Corrosion processes become significantly more complex in the

presence of solid scales that may form on the metal surface. In
general, it is necessary to consider; (i) the precipitation
equilibria on the metal surface (ii) anodic dissolution processes
that occur on the free surface of the metal (iii) dissolution
kinetics of the solid scale (iv) cathodic processes on the free
metal surface (v) cathodic processes on the scale surface,
which are expected to be considerably slower than those on
the free surface (vi) local concentrations of active ions close to
the metal surface, which are influenced by adsorption and
mass transfer and (vii) transport of ions through scale, which
depends on the permeability of the solid precipitate. In
principle, it is possible to develop a truly comprehensive model
that takes into account all these phenomena [19], [20].
However, such a model would contain a large number of
parameters that could not be unequivocally determined on the
basis of the limited amount of electrochemical and exposure
data that are available in literature. In order to derive a
mathematical model that represents the effects of scale
formation on corrosion rates. Anderko and Young, 2002,
considered
separate species that may be formed on the
surface of the corroding metal. The fraction of the surface
occupied by
species is dented by
and its change with
time is expressed as:

Where ,is the rate constant for the formation of the

species on the free surface of the metal and , is the rate
constant for the dissolution of these species. In the limit of
stationary state (i.e., for
) is given as;

The averaged effect of surface scale can be represented by

(31) with the assumption that the partial current densities are
modified by the presence of the scale, thus;

Also the ratio

, is referred to as Equivalent Weight (EW) of
individual element constituent of alloy, hence (26) can be
expressed as;
And

Where M, is the atomic weight of the metal (g/mol), n, is the

charge number (electron valency), F, is the Faradays constant
and EW for an alloy is given by the relation of (28):

Where
is valence of alloying element, ;
is mass fraction
of alloying element, ; and , is atomic mass of element,
(g/mol),[18].

can be rewritten as

Where
etc., are surface concentration of appropriate
active solution species, X, Y, etc., and a, b, etc., are reaction
orders, thus;

Assuming the Langmuir absorption behavior,

represented as;

can be
159

IJSTR2012
www.ijstr.org

International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research Volume 1, Issue 4, May 2012

ISSN 2277-8616

Therefore, the parameters that are needed for the computation

of the effect of FeCO3 scaling are
,
, and
.
The parameter
in (33) is the ratio of the rate constant for the
formation and dissolution of scales; and , characterizes the
adsorption of the aqueous species that are responsible for
scale formation. However, aside the bulk activity of species,
the effect of scale formation is determined by the parameters,
In case of a FeCO3 scale, the HCO3- ion can be
assumed to be the active species that participates in the scale
formation because it is much more abundant than CO32- in the
pH region of FeCO3 precipitation, i.e.,

Thus,

is substituted for the term

in (33). Since
depends on the activity of HCO3- ions, it is a strong
function of solution chemistry. For the FeCO3 scale, the
parameter
has been found to be temperature-dependent
according to an Arrhenius-type expression, thus;

Path 1

5 CONCLUSION
Several prediction and mitigation models have been
developed for CO2 and H2S corrosion of oil and gas pipeline.
The models are correlated with different laboratory data and, in
some cases, also with field data from oil companies. The
models have very different approaches to accounting for oil
wetting and the effect of protective corrosion films, which can
give large difference in behavior between the models. It is not
possible to declare one or two models as better than the
others. But it is important to understand how the corrosion
prediction models handle, particularly, the effects of these
gases, oil wetting and protective corrosion films when the
models are used for corrosion evaluation of wells and
pipelines. There is inevitably a high degree of uncertainty in
these predictions and no model should be believed to have
more than
accuracy for a wide range of conditions.
However, the knowledge about te kind of overpotential or
polarization occurring during corrosion processes is very
helpful and important in corrosion mitigation, since it allows an
assessment of the determining characteristics of a corroding
system.

Path 2

Taylors pairing
Taylors pairing

Figure 2: Polarization behavior or carbon steel in a deaerated

solution maintained at 250C and a pH of zero

Figure 1: Mechanism of H2S corrosion on Fe

160
IJSTR2012
www.ijstr.org

International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research Volume 1, Issue 4, May 2012

ISSN 2277-8616

Figure 4: Polarization behavior or carbon steel in a stagnant

aerated solution maintained at 250C and a pH of five

Figure 3: Polarization behavior or carbon steel in a deaerated

solution maintained at 250C and a pH of five

Figure 5: Polarization behavior or carbon steel in an agitated aerated

solution maintained at 250C and a pH of five

REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.

4.

5.

Enetanya, A.N. Corrosion problems in industrial

mechanical systems. Joen Printing and Publishing
Company, Ogui, Enugu, Nigeria, 2001; 10-12.
Nyborg, R. Controlling internal corrosion in oil and
gas pipelines. Business Briefing Exploration and
Production: Oil and Gas Review, 2005; Issue 2.
Anderko, A., and Young, R.D. Simulation of
CO2/H2S corrosion using thermodynamic and
electrochemical models. Corrosion/02, Paper No.
991, NACE International, Houston, Texas, 2002.
Zhao, G.X. et al. Formation characteristics of CO2
corrosion product layer of P110 steel investigated
by SEM and electrochemical technique. Iron and
Steel Research International, 2009; 16 (41): 89-94.
Obuka, S.P.N., and Ihueze, C.C. A review of
corrosion and corrosion schemes for metal and

6.

7.

8.

composite oil and gas system: Management and

development. Journal of Advanced Materials,
2011; 43 (2): 35-54.
Hunnik, E.W.J.V., Pots, B.F.M., and Hendriksen,
E.L.J.A. The formation of protective FeCO3
corrosion product layers in CO2 corrosion.
Corrosion/96, Paper No. 6, NACE International,
Houston, Texas, 1996.
Sun, W., and Nesic, S. A mechanistic model of
H2S corrosion of mild steel. Corrosion/07, Paper
No. 07655, NACE International, Houston, Texas,
2007.
Sun , W.,
Marquez, A.I., and Bohe, G.G.
Theoretical investigation of H2S corrosion of mild
steel. Institute of Corrosion and Multiphase
Technology 2008.
161

IJSTR2012
www.ijstr.org

International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research Volume 1, Issue 4, May 2012
9.
10.

11.

12.

13.
14.
15.
16.

17.
18.

19.

20.

ISSN 2277-8616

Hausler, R.H., and Godard, H.P. Advances in CO2

corrosion. NACE International Publication, 1984: 1.
Koteeswaran, M. CO2 and H2S corrosion in oil
pipelines. Masters Degree Thesis, Faculty of
Mathematics and Natural Science, University of
Stavanger, Norway, 2010.
Srinivan, S., and Kane, R.D. Prediction of
corrosivity of CO2/H2S production environment.
Prevention of Pipeline Corrosion Conference,
Houston, Texas, 1995.
Sun, W., and Nesic, S. Kinetics of iron sulphide
and mixed iron sulphide/carbonate scale
precipitation in CO2/H2S corrosion. Corrosion/06,
Paper No. 06644, NACE International, Houston,
Texas, 2006.
Roberge, P.R. Corrosion basics: An introduction,
2nd edition. NACE Press Book, 2006: 56-70.
Lister, D.H. Corrosion for engineers. Lecture note,
University of New Brunswick, Canada, 2005.
Roberge, P.R. Corrosion engineering: Principles
and practice. McGraw-Hill Publishers, 2008: 85106.
Boreman, D.J., Wimmer, B.O., and Lewis, K.G.
Repair technologies for gas transmission pipelines.
Pipeline and Gas Journal, New York, U.S.A.
(2000).
Freeman, R.A., and Silverman, D.C. Error
propagation in coupon immersion tests. Corrosion,
1992; 48 (6): 463.
Silverman, D.C. Practical corrosion prediction
using electrochemical techniques. In Uhlogs
Corrosion Handbook 2nd edition, R.W. Revie. Ed.,
John Wiley and Sons, 2000.
Ikeda, A., Ueda, M., and Mukai, S. Advances in
CO2 corrosion. In R.H. Hausler and H.P. Godard,
eds., Corrosion NACE International, Hoiston,
Texas, 1984; 1: 39-51.
Sridhar, N., Dunn, D.S., Anderko, A., and Lencka,
M.M. Final Report PR 15 9712, Pipeline
Research Committee International, Arlington,
Virginia, 1984..

162
IJSTR2012
www.ijstr.org