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Evaluation of corrosion mechanisms present in gas and oil pipelines at Northeastern Venezuela

Abstract:

In this paper, a field study on hydrocarbon production facilities located at northeastern Venezuela was performed, in order to evaluate the influence of the fluid dynamics in the internal corrosion mechanisms in gas and oil pipelines, caused by the presence of H2S and CO2. In this way, a new device developed by PDVSA-Intevep was used to carry out a comprehensive study by monitoring the corrosion phenomenon in real production systems. The results show that the main corrosion form is under deposit corrosion, which leads to have pitting damage at different position in the internal surface of the pipelines. According to microscopic analysis, the solid found on the metal surface are related to the presence of sand, carbonates and iron sulfides. The damage location is associated to the hydrodynamic conditions of the production systems, such as the flow pattern and gas and liquid superficial velocities. © 2012 Universidad Simón Bolívar.