Nano-emulsification method as a strategy for oil soluble corrosion inhibitor transform to water soluble

Abstract

Corrosion inhibitor is one of the most economical and effective approaches to protecting metal pipes in the oil and gas industries. However, a great amount of corrosion inhibitors such as imidazoline, are difficult to distribute fast due to their poor solubility or dispersibility in water, which results in inhomogeneous concentration distribution and ineffectiveness. In this study, nano-emulsification technique was developed to improve the dispersity of mercaptoacetic acid-modified oleic imidazoline (MOI) in corrosive water. The formulation of nanoemulsion is optimized with the phase inversion temperature (PIT) and droplet diameter. The prepared nanoemulsion which the hydrophilic lipophilic balance value (HLB) was 11.5 and the loading of corrosion inhibitor was 20 wt% exhibited remarkable water dispersion performance and its mean particle size was less than 100 nm. Moreover, its dispersion performance in water was significantly better than that of the paraffin oil system, and was similar in the ethanol system. The inhibition performances and mechanisms of nanoemulsion for L245 carbon steel in the H2S/CO2 containing 5.0 wt% NaCl solution were investigated with weight loss measurements and electrochemical tests. In terms of inhibition efficiency, the corrosion inhibitor encapsulated in nanoemulsion was exceeding 90%, which was comparable to the system employing ethanol and liquid paraffin as solvents. Further experimental results indicated that the nanoemulsion system was more consistent with the Freundlich adsorption model, unlike the other two systems which followed the Langmuir adsorption model. The morphology and composition of corrosion products were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) methods. The SEM and XPS results demonstrated that the nanoemulsion system did not change the material type of corrosion products, but had a visible influence on their morphology. In addition, the inhibition mechanism was also revealed by theoretical calculations. These findings suggest that nano-emulsification technique has the potential to improve the solubility or dispersibility of oil soluble corrosion inhibitor, thereby expanding its application fields.