Department of Petroleum Engineering

Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State

Corrosion and Erosion

ALPHA 2021
 Corrosion

 Corrosion is the deterioration of materials by

chemical interaction with their environment.
 it attacks every component at every stage in the life
of oil and gas field, from casing stings to production
platform, drilling through to abandonment.
 Deep hot gas wells, CO2 floods, deepwater offshore
platforms, and arctic development are good
examples of cases that has caused significant
material and corrosion problems.
 Forms of Corrosion

 Some of the 8 forms of corrosion are unique, but all

of them are more or less interrelated.
 Uniform corrosion
 Galvanic, or two-metal corrosion
 Crevice corrosion
 Pitting
 Intergranular corrosion
 Selective leaching or parting
 Erosion corrosion
 Stress corrosion
 Forms of corrosion Cont’d

 Uniform Corrosion
 The most common form of corrosion.
 A uniform, regular removal of metal from the entire
exposed surface.
 Metal? -
 Environment? -
 The metal becomes thinner and eventually fails.
 Forms of corrosion Cont’d

Prevention of Uniform Corrosion

 Uniform attack can be prevented or reduced by:
 Proper materials including coatings
 Inhibitors
 Cathodic Protection
 Forms of corrosion Cont’d

Galvanic Corrosion –
 Two dissimilar metals are coupled in the presence of
corrosive solution.
 There is a potential difference – the less resistant
metal becomes anodic and the more resistant metal
cathodic.
 The driving force for current and corrosion is the
potential developed between the two metals.
 Because metals are made up of crystals, many such
cells are set up, causing intergranular corrosion.
 Forms of corrosion Cont’d

Prevention of Galvanic Corrosion

 Select combinations of metals as close together as possible in
the galvanic series.
 Avoid the unfavorable area effect of a small anode and large
cathode.
 Insulate dissimilar metals wherever practicable.
 Apply coatings with caution.
 Add inhibitors.
 Avoid threaded joints for materials far apart in the series.
 Design for the use of readily replaceable anodic parts or make
them thicker for longer life.
 Install a third metal that is anodic to both metals in the
galvanic contact.
 Forms of corrosion Cont’d

 Crevice corrosion

• Localised forms of attack that

result in relatively rapid
penetration at small discrete
areas.
• Location : within crevices and
other shielded areas on metal
surfaces exposed to corrosives
(small volumes of stagnant
solution) caused by :
- Holes
- Gasket surfaces
- Lap joints
- Surface deposits Stainless steel bolt (bottom) inappropriately used
- Crevices under bolt and rivet in seawater after a five year exposure. (photo
heads copyright 2000 by George Dinwiddie, used
by permission of www.alberg30.org)
- Wet packing materials
 Forms of corrosion Cont’d

 Environmental Factors – Crevice Corrosion

 Deposits that may produce crevice corrosion: sand,
dirt, corrosion products (permeable), and other
solids.
 Forms of corrosion Cont’d

 Pitting Corrosion
 This is another form of crevice corrosion where a
small scratch, defect or impurity can start the
corrosion process.
 A form of extremely localized attack that results in
holes in the metal.
 Holes – small or large in diameter, in most cases are
relatively small.
 Pitting is unpredictable, especially in conditions
forming deep pits.
 Forms of corrosion Cont’d

Prevention of Pitting Corrosion

 Similar methods as suggested for combating crevice
corrosion.
 Addition of 2% Mo to 18-8S (type 304) to produce
18-8SMo (type 316) results in a very large increase in
resistance to pitting.
 To use materials that are known not to pit in the
environment under consideration: hastelloy and
titanium.
 Adding inhibitors.
 Forms of corrosion Cont’d

Intergranular Corrosion
 Corrosion along grain boundaries because of
difference in composition.
 Forms of corrosion Cont’d
 Selective Leaching
 The removal of one
element from a solid
alloy by corrosion
processes.
 That element is more
susceptible to corrosion Uniform dezincification – layer type
than the rest, more (favour the high brasses/high Zn content)
active electrochemically
and are anodically
dissolved in galvanic
contact with the more
noble elements. Localized dezincification – plug type
(favour the low brasses/low Zn content)
 Forms of corrosion Cont’d

Prevention of Selective Leaching

 Cathodic protection
 Use less susceptible material:
15% Zn (red brass)
Addition 1% Sn to a 70-30 brass (admiralty metal)
Addition of As, Sb, P as ‘inhibitor’ (70%Cu, 29% Zn,
1% Sn, 0.04% As)
Cupronickel (70-90%Cu, 30-10%Ni) for severely
corrosive environments.

The other forms of corrosion will be discussed later

 Forms of corrosion Cont’d

 Erosion Corrosion- when erosion removes the

protective film of corrosion products, corrosion can
occur at a faster rate. Erosion corrosion may play a
role in carbon dioxide corrosion. Under mild flow
conditions, sand may also cause erosion corrosion.
 Erosion is the direct metal removal by the direct
cutting action of high velocity abrasive particles.
 Erosion of flow lines at bends and joints by
produced sand is probably the most common
occurrence of metal erosion in the petroleum
industry.
 Forms of corrosion Cont’d

 Stress Corrosion cracking - defined as the

corrosion accelerated but tensile stress. This type of
corrosion starts at a pit or notch, with cracks
progressing into the metal primarily along grain
boundaries.
 Factors Influencing Corrosion
 Nature of the metal or alloy

 Presence of inclusions or other foreign matter at the

surface

 Homogeneity of the metallic structure

 Nature of the corrosive environment

 Factors Influencing Corrosion Cont’d

 Other factors such as stress (residual or applied, steady

or cyclic)
 Oxide scales (continuous or broken)

 Presence of deposits on surfaces

 Fayed surfaces and the possibility of corrosion crevices

 Galvanic effects between dissimilar metals

 Occasional presence of stray electrical currents from

external sources
 C0rrosion in Oil and Gas Industry Cont’d

Corrosion in oil and gas production is an important and costly

problem in oil and gas industry, which require important
consideration in the design of production equipment.
 Drilling fluids, left untreated will corrode not only well casing
but also drilling equipment, pipelines and mud handling
equipment.
 Water and carbon dioxide injected for secondary recovery or
produced can cause severe corrosion of completion strings.
 Acid used in reducing formation damage during acid
fracturing readily attacks metal.
 Completions and surface pipelines can be eroded away by
high production velocities or blasted by formation sand.
 C0rrosion in Oil and Gas Industry Cont’d

 Offshore Structures
 Offshore installations are often painted with zinc-rich
metal which act as a barrier against rain, condensation,
sea mist and spray. The zinc-rich primers also act as
sacrificial anode, should the barrier be breached.
 The most severe corrosion occurs in the zone above the
high tide mark, called the splash zone , any protective
coating or film is constantly eroded and there is ample
supply of oxygen and water. The method of controlling
corrosion in this zone is further coating and increasing
the metal thickness to compensate for the metal loss.
 C0rrosion in Oil and Gas Industry Cont’d

The rest of the structure exposed to less severe sea water

corrosion is protected by cathodic protection.
 Cathodic protection (CP) is a technique to control the
corrosion of a metal surface by making it work as a
cathode of an electrochemical cell.
 This is achieved by placing in contact, the metal to be
protected with another, and the more easily corroded
metal to act as the anode of the electrochemical cell.
 Cathodic protection systems are most commonly used to
protect steel, water or fuel pipelines and storage tanks,
ships, offshore oil platforms and onshore oil well casings.
 C0rrosion in Oil and Gas Industry Cont’d

 The buttom of a jackup or production platform sinks

into the bed and is attacked by hydrogen sulphide,
H2 S produced by sulfate-reduction bacteria (SRB).

 However, cathodic protection also shield this type of

the structure.
 C0rrosion in Oil and Gas Industry Cont’d

 Drillpipe Corrosion – this is probably the most harshly

treated of all the equipment.
 it is exposed to formation fluid and drilling mud,
subjected to stress corrosion and erosion by cuttings,
joints of the drillpipe are made from hardened high-
strength steel and are likely to suffer from fatigue failures
started by deep corrosion pits caused by oxygen either
from mud itself or from being stacked wet.
 Drillpipe is sometimes coated internally with baked
resins or fusion bonded epoxies, to counteract corrosion.
 C0rrosion in Oil and Gas Industry Cont’d

 Mud corrosion
 Drilling mud plays an important role in corrosion
prevention. The lower PH of polymer muds poses
corrosion problems because the lower the PH, the more
acidic and hence corrosive. Oil based muds are usually
non-corrosive, water base muds used before the
introduction of polymer muds have relative PH of 10 or
greater.
 Maintaining high PH is important in controlling
corrosion rates by neutralizing acids caused by H2 S or
CO2 . H2 S Can enter the mud system directly from the
formation or from thermally degraded mud products or
SRBS. Scavengers such as sodium chromate, zinc
chromate, and sodium nitrite, can quickly remove H2 S .
 C0rrosion in Oil and Gas Industry Cont’d

 Completion
 Cementing itself provides external protection against
corrosion, completion design plays an important role
in preventing internal corrosion. Reducing sand
production by gravel packing prevents sand blasting
that prevents erosion corrosion.
 Erosion corrosion control is more pronounced in
equipment that restricts flow such as nipples, valves,
or sharp pipe bends. The velocity of produced fluids
has the same effect as produced sand with erosion
occurring at places of turbulence and cavitation
 Control of Corrosion

 Since both the cathodic and anodic steps must take

place for corrosion to occur, prevention of either one
will stop corrosion.
 The most obvious strategy is to stop both processes
by coating the object with paint or other protective
coating.
 Even if this is done, there are likely to be places
where the coating is broken or does not penetrate,
particularly if there are holes or screw threads.
 Control of Corrosion Cont’d

 Sacrificial coatings
 One way of supplying this negative charge is to apply
a coating of a more active metal.
 Thus a very common way of protecting steel from
corrosion is to coat it with a thin layer of zinc; this
process is known as galvanizing.
 The zinc coating, being less noble than iron, tends to
corrode selectively. Dissolution of this sacrificial
coating leaves behind electrons which concentrate in
the iron, making it cathodic and thus inhibiting its
dissolution.
Control of Corrosion Cont’d
 Control of Corrosion Cont’d

 Cathodic protection
 A more sophisticated strategy is to maintain a continual
negative electrical charge on a metal, so that its
dissolution as positive ions is inhibited.
 Since the entire surface is forced into the cathodic
condition, this method is known as cathodic protection.
 The source of electrons can be an external direct current
power supply (commonly used to protect oil pipelines
and other buried structures),
 or it can be the corrosion of another, more active metal
such as a piece of zinc or aluminum buried in the ground
nearby, as is shown in the illustration of the buried
propane storage tank below.
Control of Corrosion Cont’d
 Control of Corrosion Cont’d

 CORROSION INHIBITORS
 Inhibitors are chemicals that react with a metallic
surface, or the environment this surface is exposed
to, giving the surface a certain level of protection.
 Inhibitors often work by adsorbing themselves on
the metallic surface, protecting it by forming a film.
 Some corrosion inhibitors are hexamine,
phenylenediamine, dimenthylethanolamine, sodium
nitrite, condensation products of aldehydes and
amines (imines), chromates, nitrites, phosphates,
hydrazine, ascorbic acid, and others.
 Control of Corrosion Cont’d

 Corrosion control by Protective Coatings

 Paints
 Electroplating
 Electroless plating
 Control of Corrosion Cont’d

Paints
 A paint is designed to coat a surface and have the
ability to protect and, or decorate it.
 Damages to the objects at the surface can be
minimized by giving the object a coating. Coatings
can also be used to decorate the object.
 Some Major Effects of Corrosion
 Reduction of metal thickness leading to loss of mechanical
strength and structural failure or breakdown. very considerable
weakening may result from quite a small amount of metal loss.
 Hazards or injuries to people arising from structural failure or
breakdown (e.g. bridges, cars, aircraft).
 Loss of time in availability of profile-making industrial
equipment.
 Reduced value of goods due to deterioration of appearance.
 Perforation of vessels and pipes allowing escape of their contents
and possible harm to the surroundings. For example a leaky
domestic radiator can cause expensive damage to carpets and
decorations, while corrosive sea water may enter the boilers of a
power station if the condenser tubes perforate.
 Mechanical damage to valves, pumps, etc. or blockage of pipes
by solid corrosion products.
 REFERENCES

 Dennis Brondel et al, Corrosion in Oil Industry, Oil

field Review, 1994.
 Roberge, P. R., Handbook of Corrosion Engineering,
McGraw-Hill, New York, 2000. (1 copy in Student
Design Facility)
 Fontana, M. G., Corrosion Engineering, 3rd ed.,
McGraw-Hill, Singapore, 1987. (3 copies in Petra
library)