Improving anti-corrosion and mechanical properties of mild steel pipelines by using polyurea with nanoparticles

Abstract

ASTM A106 B grade is used to manufacture seamless steel pipe, which can be used at high temperature, pressure, and hard environmental conditions for oil and gas supplies but suffers from corrosion. Polyurea is an organic coating that is resistant to moisture, UV light, and chemicals and has a high range of service temperatures. In this study, the effect of polyurea coating with the addition of copper nanoparticles was investigated for improvement of anti-corrosion and mechanical behavior in 3.5 % NaCl solution for A106 steel. Potentiodynamic Polarization (PDP) and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) tests were performed to examine anticorrosion properties, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to examine quality coating, thickness, and distribution of copper nanoparticles. Wear, hardness, and tensile tests were performed to check mechanical properties. The corrosion rate decreases from 0.16264 mpy to 0.01376 mpy while coating resistance increases from 2.95 × 104 Ω cm2 to 2.474 × 105 Ω cm2. An increasing trend was observed during the tensile test for pure polyurea and pure polyurea with 2 % copper nanoparticles. i.e., 501 MPa and 536 MPa, respectively. Results showed pure polyurea and polyurea with copper nanoparticles on steel improve its anti-corrosion and mechanical properties significantly.