Abstract
Background One of the main causes of failure of the oil and gas equipment on the units of production, preparation, transportation, processing and storage of oil is a corrosive damage. Development of corrosion processes is affected by a variety of factors such as the presence of corrosive substances - salt ions, gases and micro-organisms, solid particles, including corrosion products, the temperature and pressure of the pumped medium, the flow rate, etc. Thermodynamic instability of metallic surfaces of the equipment also contributes corrosion development. USPTU studies the corrosion processes inside the steel pipelines and oil and gas equipment. It was already established, that magnetic fields and electrical charges influence corrosion processes in pipeline steels in simulated and real conditions. Corrosion protection methods using magnetic and hydrodynamic treatment of deposits were developed, consequently corrosion rate caused by ground currents could be decreased, some reagents, biocides and corrosion inhibitors neutralizing the corrosion are also known. Aims and Objectives The most characteristic component responsible for corrosion susceptibility is an electrode potential of the metal surface in a corrosive environment. The process of this potential bias to the reversible potential of the cathode or the anode component is called a polarization. One of the most important tasks in order to reduce the corrosion rate of oil and gas equipment is to study the process of the polarization improving its service life and efficiency. Methods In order to determine the potential bias a method was developed to control of electrochemical parameters of industrial environments. The essence of the method is to change the basic characteristics of the environment, such as pH and redox potential (ORP). Adding a solution with modified characteristics in a work environment contributes the change of electrokinetic potential in the metal surfaces of oil and gas equipment. Results The primary cause of metal corrosion is the thermodynamic instability of its electrode potential. Shifting the stationary potential to the equilibrium value results in the polarization of the metal surface, and consequently reduces the corrosion rate. Studies have shown that when the basic electrochemical characteristics of the work environment - pH and redox potential are changed, there is also a shift of the electrode potential at the metal surface. The shift of the electrode potential of steel 20 to the reversible potential significantly reduced the rate of corrosion. Application of the developed method and device will significantly reduce the amount of corrosion inhibitors used in the oilfield or to completely eliminate them, which will lead to a reduction of material costs and decrease the contamination of final production with inhibitor impurities.
Published Version
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