Standard Guide for Evaluating and Qualifying Oilfield and Refinery Corrosion Inhibitors in the Laboratory

Abstract

5.1 Corrosion inhibitors continue to play a key role in controlling internal corrosion associated with oil and gas production and transportation. This results primarily from the industry’s extensive use of carbon and low alloy steels, which, for many applications, are economic materials of construction that generally exhibit poor corrosion resistance. As a consequence, there is a strong reliance on inhibitor deployment for achieving cost-effective corrosion control, especially for treating long flowlines and main export pipelines (1).5 5.2 For multiphase flow, the aqueous-oil-gas interphases can take any of an infinite number of possible forms. These forms are delineated into certain classes of interfacial distribution called flow regimes. The flow regimes depend on the inclination of the pipe (that is, vertical or horizontal), flow rate (based on production rate), and flow direction (that is, upward or downward). The common flow regimes in vertical upward flow, vertical downward flow, and horizontal flow are presented in Figs. 1-3 respectively (2, 3).be carried out 5.14 To develop an inhibitor selection strategy, in addition to inhibitor efficiency, several other key performance factors need to be evaluated: (1) water/oil partitioning, (2) solubility, (3) emulsification tendency, (4) foaming tendency, (5) thermal stability, (6) toxicity, and (7) compatibility with other additives/materials.