Abstract
The objective of this work is to study the effect of emulsion formation on steel corrosion in a sweet environment in a laboratory scale. Field experience shows that improper sizing of pipelines in the petroleum industry is often caused by a lack of understanding of three-phase flows which are characterized by a gas phase flowing together with a brine-oil liquid phase. The emulsion formation in these systems plays an important role on the corrosion rates of steel pipelines.
Highlights
Emulsions are dispersions with one liquid phase in another and can exhibit stability in the presence of surfactants, macromolecules and solid particles adsorbed at the interface of both
After the cleaning with as a suitable soap, no visible layer of iron carbonate was observed which indicate that the expected iron carbonate formed due to the presence of CO2 were removed by the hydrodynamic effect
The corrosion test specimens, both installed at a horizontal position and at a 45° position were covered with a thick oil film with appearance and viscosity quite different from the original HO (Figure 4)
Summary
Emulsions are dispersions with one liquid phase in another and can exhibit stability in the presence of surfactants, macromolecules and solid particles adsorbed at the interface of both. The work (thermodynamic) for emulsification can be defined as the product between the interfacial tension and the variation of the area generated by the process. This energy must remain stored for some time until the system follows the natural path of minimizing it by decreasing the interfacial area and consequent destruction of the dispersion. Despite their thermodynamic instability, many emulsions are kinetically stable and do not change for long periods. This happens because the barrier potential which prevents aggregation of the particles is high [2]
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