Comparison of corrosion scales formed on KO8OSS and N8O steels in CO2/H2S environment

Abstract

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were applied to analyse the microstructure and composition of the corrosion scale formed on KO80SS and N80 tubes with carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen sulphide (SO2). The corrosion scales of both KO80SS and N80 tubes were of the double layer structure, and not only uniform corrosion but also localised corrosion was observed. The crystal of the surface layer is laminar. The main phase in the outer layer is calcium carbonate (CaCO3), and the inner scale consisted of iron carbonate (FeCO3) for KO80SS steel and FeS0·9 with a little amount of FeCO3 for N80 steel respectively. Additionally, the electrochemical techniques were used to investigate the characteristics of the corrosion scales. The results indicated that the polarisation resistance Rp of KO80SS steel film was nobler than that of N80 steel film. Finally, the corrosion current Icorr of KO80SS steels was lower than that of N80 steels. Corrosion scale of KO80SS tube steels is more protective to the matrix than that of N80 tube steels.