Basic Corrosion

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 16

Corrosion

Basic information
September 2021
Menas Wibowo
(all view and statement are personal, and not related to any company or employer)
Content
• Scope of the presentation
• (Very brief) Oil and Gas Industry – Upstream
• What is corrosion ?
• Why does corrosion occur ?
• Some common types of corrosion
• Corrosion control and mitigation
Scope and setting the expectation
• Dealing with (low temperature) aqueous corrosion – (not high
temperature gaseous corrosion)
• Main scope is related to upstream oil and gas industry – not other
industry
• This presentation covers only very basic introduction and simplified
version. Many sources are available elsewhere (open source, books,
articles, videos, free webinars)
Introduction to Oil and Gas – and Upstream
Upstream:
• Exploration and
production of oil and gas
• Extracting hydrocarbon
from sub-surface
• Wellhead, drilling
locations, offshore
platform, gas and oil
processing facilities
• Pipeline, flowline, piping,
pressure vessels, heat
exchangers, storage tank

https://texvyn.wordpress.com/2015/09/17/oil-gas-is-upstream-or-downstream-right-for-me/
Typical upstream oil and gas facility

https://www.emerson.com/resource/blob/schematics-spogas-desktop-img-data-2051560.jpg
What is corrosion ?

Degradation of materials (metals) due to its


interaction with environment
Interaction → Electrochemical reaction

◼ The three elements required to cause aqueous corrosion is


also known as:
◼ Anode → where oxidation occurs (located in metal)
◼ Cathode → where reduction occurs (located in metal)
◼ Metallic path (located in metal) – electron transport
◼ Electrolyte (water and corrodent) – ion transport
Why does corrosion occur ?
• Most metals are found and
extracted as ores (oxide, sulfide,
silicate).
• A lot of energy is put into the
metal to transform it to ‘usable’
shape and form (pipe, plate, etc).
• Metal tends to go back to the
lowest energy state, which is as
oxide (corrosion products) –
(Thermodynamics Law)
Types of Corrosion
External Corrosion
• Atmospheric environment
• CUI (under insulation)
• Soil corrosion
• Seawater corrosion
• Pitting / crevice, etc..
Internal Corrosion
• Oxygen corrosion • MIC (Microbiologically Influenced
• CO2 corrosion (sweet) corrosion)
• CO2/H2S corrosion (sour) • Under deposit corrosion
• Galvanic corrosion, etc
Corrosion Mitigation - Coating
• Principle: Put a barrier between electrolyte and metal
• Types: organic coating, metallic coating, non-metallic coating
• Advantages: in general relatively easy (and cheap) to apply
• Disadvantages: need maintenance, critical surface preparation,
different coatings for different environment
• Source: https://www.corrosionpedia.com/the-composition-of-a-
paint-coating/2/3247
Types of Coating
Corrosion Mitigation – Cathodic Protection
• Principle: connecting with less noble metals (sacrificial), or
bombarding the steel surface with electrons
• Types : ICCP and SACP
Types of Cathodic Protection
SACP (Sacrificial Anode) ICCP (Impressed Current)
• Simple set-up • Require power supply
• Little or no maintenance • Require maintenance
• Difficult to test • More complex and expensive
• No possibility to change • Longer anode life
output (dependent on the • Easier to test the performance
driving force / potential
differences) • Flexible (can adjust current
requirement)
Corrosion Mitigation – Materials Selection
• Principle : Choose higher resistance materials – from CS to CRA
(Corrosion Resistant Alloys)
• Types : From CS to CRA or to non-metallics
• Advantages : robust solution* (not dependent on secondary system)
• Disadvantages: Often expensive (CAPEX) to implement, other
degradation mechanisms

Other corrosion mitigation: gas dehydration, chemical treatment


*If operated within the integrity window
Summary
• Aqueous corrosion is an inevitable phenomenon that takes place in
industry
• Have an awareness and understanding the corrosion mechanism and
morphology help to manage the threats
• Manage corrosion by identifying and ranking the risk, provide barriers
and manage / maintain the barrier health check.

You might also like