Investigation of the Role of Droplet Transport in Mitigating Top of the Line Corrosion

Abstract

The entrainment of liquid droplets, occurring in a limited range of gas and liquid flow conditions within the stratified flow region, could represent an effective way to transport a non-volatile liquid corrosion inhibitor through the gas phase and combat top of the line corrosion (TLC). However, such an approach is only viable if the inhibitor can reach the top of the pipe and deposit at a rate higher than the local rate of condensing water can dilute it. This work presents a combined modeling and experimental methodology to determine the onset of droplet entrainment from the bottom and deposition at the top of the line. A modeling approach predicting the droplet entrainment onset is proposed and validated against new multiphase flow data recorded in a large scale flow loop, at operating conditions similar to those encountered in gas-condensate production facilities. Additionally, TLC experiments were performed in the same flow loop under simulated water condensation conditions to measure the actual corrosion at different rates of inhibiting droplet deposition. The results confirm that the droplet entrainment/deposition can effectively mitigate TLC when operating parameters are accurately controlled.