1 Copyright 2002 by ASME

Proceedings of OMAE02
21st International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering
June 2328, 2002, Oslo, Norway
OM294
FLOW ASSURANCE OF WET GAS PIPELINES FROM A CORROSION VIEWPOINT

Rolf Nyborg
Materials and Corrosion Technology Department
Institute for Energy Technology
P.O. Box 40, N-2027 Kjeller, Norway
Tel. +47 6380 6266, fax +47 6380 6258
e-mail: rolf.nyborg@ife.no
Arne Dugstad
Materials and Corrosion Technology Department
Institute for Energy Technology
P.O. Box 40, N-2027 Kjeller, Norway
Tel. +47 6380 6263, fax +47 6380 6258
e-mail: arne.dugstad@ife.no



ABSTRACT
In many offshore oil and gas projects under development,
the pipeline costs are a considerable part of the investment and
can become prohibitively high if the corrosivity of the fluid
necessitates the use of corrosion resistant alloys instead of
carbon steel. Development of more robust and reliable methods
for internal corrosion control can increase the application range
of carbon steel and therefore have a large economic impact.

Corrosion control of carbon steel pipelines has traditionally
often been managed by the use of corrosion inhibitors. The pH
stabilization technique has been successfully used for corrosion
control of several large wet gas condensate pipelines in the last
few years. Precipitation of scale and salts in the pipeline and
process equipment creates further challenges when formation
water is produced.

Different corrosion prediction models are used in the
industry to assess the corrosivity of the transported fluid. An
overview of the present models is given together with a link to
fluid flow modeling.
INTRODUCTION
Multiphase transport will have a major impact on offshore
development during the next decade. In the past the emphasis
has been on processing the multiphase well stream by
separation on platforms situated close to the wells. Drastic
reductions in both investments and operating costs can be
achieved when unprocessed or partially processed multiphase
well streams are transported in carbon steel pipelines from
satellite wells to main platforms, to existing installations on
neighbouring fields or to onshore processing facilities. Field
development by subsea installations or only partial processing
topside followed by transport in carbon steel pipelines represent
the only economical solutions for many gas fields.

The presence of CO
2
, H
2
S and free water in unprocessed or
partially processed well streams can cause severe corrosion
problems in carbon steel pipelines. The most important factors
governing the corrosivity of the well stream are the amount of
CO
2
and H
2
S, temperature and the water chemistry. Selection of
corrosion control methods in wet gas pipelines depends to a
large degree on whether any formation water will be transported
in the pipeline, the composition of the water, the degree of
water condensation in the pipeline and whether glycol will be
injected for hydrate control.

When no or very little formation water is transported in the
pipeline the pH stabilization technique can be used for
corrosion control. This technique is based on an artificial
increase in the pH of the water phase by adding pH stabilizing
agents. This promotes precipitation of protective corrosion
product films on the steel surface. The pH stabilization
technique is currently being considered for several large wet gas
condensate pipelines.

When formation water is produced, the possibility for
precipitation of scale and salts in the pipeline and process
equipment creates further challenges for both pipeline and
process equipment design. Corrosion control of carbon steel
pipelines is then often managed by the use of corrosion
inhibitors, but it has been difficult to account for the effects of
multiphase flow on corrosion inhibition in laboratory screening
tests. New test methods and equipment are being developed in
order to account for the effect of multiphase flow and steel
surface conditions.


Proceedings of OMAE02
21
st
International Conference on Offshore Mechanics
and Artic Engineering
June 23-28, 2002,Oslo, Norway

OMAE2002-28294
PIPE TOC
2 Copyright 2002 by ASME
CO
2
CORROSION OF CARBON STEEL
Internal corrosion of carbon steel used in oil and gas
pipelines is influenced by a large number of parameters. Some
of the most important are temperature, CO
2
partial pressure, pH
of the water phase, flow regime and velocity, concentration of
dissolved corrosion products, presence of acetic acid, water
wetting, and the microstructure, composition and surface
condition of the steel. A small change in one of these
parameters may influence the corrosion rate considerably. This
is attributed to changes in the properties of the thin layer of
corrosion products and scale which accumulates on the steel
surface. The properties of this corrosion product film
determines whether the corrosion rate becomes very high (no
protective films) or low (protective corrosion films). The layer
also interacts with corrosion inhibitor adherence to the surface
and therefore plays an important role for inhibitor performance.

When very small amounts of corrosion products deposit on
the steel surface, generally very high uniform corrosion rates of
several mm/y are obtained, even at low temperatures and high
pH values. This "worst case" corrosion is the easiest type to
study and reproduce in the laboratory, and several prediction
models have been developed for this type of corrosion.

When the solubility product for iron carbonate or other
scales is exceeded these constituents can precipitate and deposit
on the steel surface giving a dense and protective corrosion
product film. The prediction of corrosion rates when films with
protective properties are formed is much more complicated than
worst case predictions due to the probabilistic nature of
corrosion film formation. The corrosion film formation is
strongly dependent on the solubility and precipitation rate of
iron carbonate, which again is influenced by temperature, pH,
flow rate and the composition and microstructure of the
corroding steel. Experiments have shown that precipitation of
FeCO
3
is a slow, temperature dependent process, and that a high
degree of supersaturation can be maintained in a corroding
system. The precipitation of iron carbonate is facilitated by
increased pH, increased temperature and by all measures which
can reduce the transport of reactants and corrosion products to
and from the steel surface [1, 2]. Periods of shutdown and the
presence of mill scale or rust from tube manufacturing and
storing may also reduce the risk for high corrosion rates.

Localized corrosion or mesa attack is the most feared type
of corrosion attack in pipelines and flowlines. This attack is
usually associated with high flow rates and is characterized by
the formation of severely corroded regions separated with sharp
steps from neighbouring areas with much less attack. Mesa
attack develops when the protective corrosion film on the steel
surface is destroyed locally. The mechanism is based on a fine
balance between film growth and corrosion with subsequent
film removal. The corrosion rates in the mesa attacked areas are
in the same order as the "worst case" corrosion on steel without
protective films.
Some flowlines from fields in the Norwegian sector have
suffered serious localized attacks, as shown in Figure 1. In one
case penetration rates as high as 5-10 mm/year were observed
and replacement had to be done. The line had been in operation
for some years without problems. Changes in the well
composition over time led to more aggressive conditions giving
unacceptably high corrosion rates. For practical purposes it is
important to understand the underlying mechanism and to be
able to predict whether localized corrosion will be initiated, and
how it can be prevented.
THE pH STABILIZATION TECHNIQUE
The corrosion rate of gas condensate pipelines can be
substantially reduced by increasing the pH artificially. The
technique is called pH stabilization. It was first used by Elf and
has been used for corrosion control in several corrosive gas
condensate pipelines by Elf and Statoil [3-5]. The reduction in
corrosion rate is based on the precipitation of protective
corrosion products on the steel surface. When corrosion product
films are formed, it is the transport of reactants and corrosion
products through the film which governs the corrosion rate.
Corrosion film properties like porosity, thickness and
composition therefore become important. All these properties are
strongly related to the iron carbonate precipitation process which
depends very much on pH and temperature.

The pH stabilization technique is very well suited to be
used in combination with glycol as hydrate preventer, as the pH
stabilizer will remain in the regenerated glycol. This means that
there is no need for continuous renewal. The pH stabilization
technique has been used in Italy, the Netherlands and Norway
with very good experience. Corrosion rates below 0.1 mm/year
have been reported for all systems, even when the CO
2
partial
pressure is higher than 10 bar (145 psi). Before the technique
Figure 1. Local corrosion attack in oil pipeline
3 Copyright 2002 by ASME
was approved for the Lille-Frigg field in Norway in 1992, a
research program was carried out at Institute for Energy
Technology (IFE) where the performance of MDEA
(Methyldiethanolamine) as pH stabilizer was studied. The
experiments showed that when pH was increased to 6.5 by
adding MDEA corrosion rates well below 0.1 mm/year could be
obtained. The predicted corrosion rates without pH stabilizer
were more than 10 mm/year. Since then a large number of flow
loop and glass cell experiments have been carried out at IFE
with such systems.

MDEA is an organic amine base and from an
environmental point of view it is not the ideal candidate for
systems where the pH stabilizer is not fully regenerated. In
order to study the pH stabilization technique in more detail and
to find alternative additives, a joint industry project was
conducted at IFE in the period 1993-1996. The main objective
for the project was to find environmentally friendly additive
chemicals which could be used to increase and stabilize the pH
of the well stream, so that sufficient and permanent corrosion
protection of wet gas pipelines was achieved. Much of the work
was concentrated on the use of sodium bicarbonate as pH
stabilizer. A large number of flow loop and glass cell experi-
ments were carried out in order to study the effect of variables
like the CO
2
partial pressure, temperature, the concentration and
type of hydrate preventer, the flow velocity and the pH [6]. The
experiments showed that protective films form in a short time at
temperatures between 40 and 100 C, reducing the corrosion
rate to less than 0.1 mm/year. At lower temperatures around 20
C the iron carbonate precipitation is very slow, and it may take
several months to obtain protective corrosion films, but with a
low corrosion rate at 20 C it can be accepted to wait several
months for a protective corrosion film is formed.

The pH-stabilization technique is now also being taken into
use in fields with mixed systems of H
2
S and CO
2
. Here the
precipitating corrosion product films will be iron sulfide instead
of iron carbonate. Localized corrosion in the form of pitting
may become critical in this environment. The target pH is not as
obvious for CO
2
/H
2
S systems as it is for pure CO
2
systems. In a
recently finished joint industry project at IFE the chemical
additions required for using the pH stabilization technique in
systems with moderate amounts of CO
2
and H
2
S were
determined. An ongoing follow-up project will determine the
application limits for the pH-stabilization technique in wet gas
pipelines with high content of H
2
S and CO
2
in the gas.

A major application for the pH stabilization technique has
been the Troll pipelines [4, 5]. The Troll field, originally
developed by Shell and operated by Statoil, is a large gas-
condensate offshore field in the Norwegian sector of the North
Sea. The field started operation in mid 1996. The maximum
production rate is up to 100 million Sm
3
/day. The water depth is
roughly 300 m and in order to minimize the size of the offshore
production facilities, it was decided to only do a simple
processing with free water knock-out offshore and to do the
main processing onshore. As more water will condense in the
pipelines as the temperature decreases, this solution involved
that corrosive fluids had to be transported in two 36" pipelines
from the platform and a distance of 66 km to shore.

The Troll field is a sweet gas field with a CO
2
content of
0.3 % giving a CO
2
partial pressure of 0.3 - 0.4 bar (4.4-5.8
psi). The inlet and outlet temperature is 50 and 5 C respec-
tively. In order to control the hydrate formation and the
corrosion rate of the pipeline, 90 wt% monoethylene glycol
(MEG) was injected at the inlet of the pipeline. Due to the low
CO
2
content it was decided to use glycol addition only for
corrosion control with a rather large corrosion allowance. The
target was to reach a corrosion rate of less than 0.2 mm/year.
The amount of MEG had to be increased above what was
needed for hydrate control in order to reach this corrosion rate.
A simplified sketch of the system is shown in Figure 2.

During the first year of production, precipitation of
corrosion products from the pipeline lead to a severe problem in
the MEG regeneration units. The precipitation took place in the
heat exchangers and boilers when the pressure was reduced and
the temperature increased. Some of the iron formed scales on
the surfaces in the heat exchangers and the boilers and some
precipitated as particles in the bulk phase. These particles
recirculated and settled in the low flow areas like tanks, drums,
slug catcher, etc. The estimated amount of corrosion products
was 20 tons the first year of operation. This was not regarded as
a corrosion problem in the pipelines, but as a process problem
in the onshore facilities. In order to reduce the amount of
dissolved corrosion products produced due to corrosion of the
pipeline, it was decided by Statoil to reduce the corrosivity by
applying the pH stabilization method.

Slug catcher
Gas conditioning
Glycol/condensate
separation
MEG regeneration
Lean MEG
storage tank
4" glycol
supply pipeline
2 x 36" production pipelines
Figure 2. Overview of the Troll gas field
4 Copyright 2002 by ASME
The pH based on the CO
2
partial pressure and pure
condensed water is about 4.2, but due to build-up of
bicarbonate produced by the corrosion process in the system,
the actual pH at the outlet of the pipeline prior to pH
stabilization was about 6. Based on the results from laboratory
testing and calculations with the pH-stabilization model
developed at IFE, it was decided to increase the bicarbonate
concentration to achieve pH 7.4 in the section of the pipeline
operating at 20 C. This required a total amount of 50 mmol/l
bicarbonate in the pipeline. For practical reasons, the pH
stabilizer was injected as a liquid solution of 22 wt% NaOH
into the lean MEG tank which is operated at ambient pressure.

The iron content in the slug catcher before and after the pH
stabilization is shown in Figure 3. The amount of corrosion
products circulating in the system decreased very fast during the
treatment period. The concentration of dissolved Fe
2+
which has
the potential to form scale in the process equipment was
reduced from around 100 ppm to less than 5 ppm after 6 weeks.
This corresponds to a corrosion rate far below 0.1 mm/year.
Very little precipitation takes place in the MEG process system
today and it has been operated with success since the treatment
was carried out in the end of 1997.

The pH stabilization technique can be an interesting
alternative for many gas condensate fields. The technique can
not be used for pipelines carrying large quantities of formation
water containing calcium, strontium or barium due to formation
of carbonate scale. When the pH is increased to 1 - 2 units, the
solubility of these cations will be considerably reduced.

A technical limitation can be the transport, deployment and
consumption of the pH stabilizer in the field. As long as glycol
is used to combat hydrate formation, a convenient method is to
transport and inject the pH stabilizer together with the glycol.
However, under some conditions (high target pH and high CO
2

partial pressure) the demand for pH stabilizer can be so high
that the solubility limit for the pH stabilizer is exceeded.

The pH stabilizer is usually regenerated together with the
glycol and the consumption is therefore very low. For once
through systems and methanol systems, however, the cost of pH
stabilizing chemicals might be a limiting factor. Replenishment
of pH stabilizer may also become costly for systems where even
small amounts of formation water is carried over from the
offshore processing. When the glycol is regenerated, the salts
will usually remain in the regenerated glycol. This leads to an
accumulation of salts in the glycol, and at least parts of the
circulating glycol has to be desalted in order to avoid excessive
salt build-up and eventually massive salt precipitation in the
system. Desalting will usually remove also the pH stabilizer,
which will be in ionic form in the pipeline, and this will require
replenishment of the pH stabilizer. Even a small formation
water carry-over may then require considerable replenishment
of the pH stabilizer. An optimum system design for use of the
pH stabilization technique will require a thorough evaluation of
both target pH, scale formation, salt accumulation and
precipitation, and techniques for salt removal and glycol
regeneration.
USE OF CORROSION INHIBITORS
The pH stabilization technique can not be used for oil
pipelines or for gas condensate pipelines where large amounts
of formation water will be transported. For such pipelines
addition of corrosion inhibitors is the most used corrosion
control method. New corrosion inhibitors are being conti-
nuously developed to handle more aggressive conditions, or to
comply with more stringent environmental regulations.

Selection and qualification of inhibitors in the laboratory
prior to implementation in the field is essential, and most often
dedicated laboratory experiments will have to be performed
with candidate inhibitors for each field or pipeline. A number of
factors may influence inhibition in multiphase pipelines. Factors
such as temperature, water-oil partitioning, water chemistry, and
flow conditions have been widely studied. Less attention has in
the past been given to factors like the composition and
microstructure of the steel, to the type of corrosion products
formed on the steel surfaces, to inhibitor adsorption on
suspended particles in the produced water, and to inhibitor
accumulation on bubbles and oil/water droplets.

Previous work at Institute for Energy Technology has
shown that the microstructure of the steel and corrosion
products on the steel surface can strongly affect inhibitor
performance in laboratory tests [7, 8]. In some experiments the
inhibitor performed well on one steel where the surfaces had
been precorroded for different times, while for another steel the
inhibitor performance was very poor on surfaces with corrosion
products present [8]. Fresh ground steel surfaces are never
0
50
100
150
200
0 30 60 90 120 150
Time / days
F
e
2
+


/

p
p
m
Total iron
Dissolved iron
Injection of
NaOH started
Injection rate of
NaOH increased
Injection of NaOH stopped
Figure 3. Iron content after pH stabilization
5 Copyright 2002 by ASME
encountered in the field, and therefore it is now recommended
to precorrode the specimens before adding inhibitor in a test.
Furthermore, it is essential to use the actual pipeline steel in
laboratory tests, or at least a steel with similar composition and
microstructure.

Laboratory testing of inhibitors should closely reproduce
the conditions of the field. It is therefore essential to identify
which factors are critical for inhibitor performance for the
particular application and take them into account in the testing
programme. This problem has been investigated in a recently
finished joint industry project at Institute for Energy
Technology, where the critical factors for inhibition in
multiphase flow have been identified and studied in detail. A
follow-up project has been started where the objectives are to
develop test equipment, test procedures and inhibitor selection
criteria that take properly into account the critical parameters
controlling inhibition in multiphase oil and gas pipelines. This
includes the effect of partitioning between the water and oil
phases, the effect of emulsions on inhibition, the effect of
accumulated corrosion products on the steel surface and the
interaction between corrosion inhibitor and suspended solids.
CO
2
CORROSION PREDICTION MODELS
Different oil companies and research institutions have
developed a large number of prediction models for CO
2

corrosion of carbon steel. Very different results can be obtained
when the models are run for the same cases due to the different
philosophies used in the development of the models [9]. Most
of the differences result from the modeling of the effects of oil
wetting and protective corrosion films. Some of the models
predict corrosion rates based on full water wetting and little
protection from corrosion product films. These models have a
built-in conservatism and can overpredict the corrosion attack
significantly for many cases. Other models assume protection
from oil wetting or formation of protective corrosion films and
predict generally much lower corrosion rates. These models
often rely to a larger degree on the company's field experience
of conditions where the corrosion rates have been at an
acceptably low level. It is important to understand how the
corrosion prediction models handle especially the effects of oil
wetting and protective corrosion films when the models are
used for corrosion evaluation of large pipelines. Most of the
models are not intended for use in situations where H
2
S or
organic acids dominates the corrosion process.

One of the most crucial aspects in corrosion evaluation of
oil and gas wells and pipelines is to obtain a realistic estimate of
the actual pH in the water phase. When formation water is
produced it is important to obtain good water analysis data,
especially with respect to bicarbonate and organic acids. For
condensed water the pH may increase due to bicarbonate
produced by corrosion. The actual pH in the pipeline must be
calculated from the CO
2
partial pressure, temperature,
bicarbonate content in the water and ionic strength.
The model developed by de Waard and coworkers has for
several years been the most widely used CO
2
corrosion model
[10, 11]. The model represents a best fit to a large number of
corrosion flow loop data generated at Institute for Energy
Technology [12]. The model takes relatively little account for
the effect of protective corrosion films, especially at high
temperature above 90 C or at high pH. The model includes an
on/off factor for oil wetting in crude oil systems. Oil wetting
and no corrosion is assumed when the water cut is below 30 %
and the liquid velocity is above 1 m/s.

The Cassandra model is BP's implementation of the de
Waard model including BP's experience in using this model
[13]. In this model a pH calculation module is included, where
the pH value is calculated from the CO
2
content, temperature
and full water chemistry. The model gives less credit for
protective films at high temperature than the de Waard model.
Oil wetting effects are not included in this model.

The Norsok model [14, 15] is an empirical model mainly
based on laboratory data at low temperature and a combination
of lab and field data at temperatures above 100 C. The model
has been developed by the Norwegian oil companies Statoil,
Norsk Hydro and Saga Petroleum. The model is fitted to much
of the same IFE lab data [12] as the de Waard 95 model, but
includes in addition more recent experiments at 100 - 150 C.
The model takes larger account for the effect of protective
corrosion films and therefore predicts lower corrosion rates at
high temperature and high pH than the de Waard model. The
model does not account for any effect of oil wetting.

Cormed is a prediction tool developed for wells by Elf,
based on a detailed analysis of Elf Aquitaine's field experience
on CO
2
corrosion [16]. It predicts the corrosivity of wells as
either a low risk, medium risk or a high risk for attack. Free
acetic acid is identified as a very important parameter for the
corrosion prediction. Cormed has been much used for pH
calculations for formation water.

The Lipucor corrosion prediction program [17] is
developed by Total and is based on both laboratory results and a
large amount of field data. The model indicates whether the
corrosion will be general or localized and gives an evaluation of
the severity of the expected corrosion. The model includes
strong effects of oil wetting, and the correlation with field data
makes this model considerably less conservative than laboratory
models where oil wetting effects are not included.

The Hydrocor model has been developed by Shell to
combine corrosion and fluid flow modeling. CO
2
corrosion
models are coupled to models for multiphase flow, pH
calculation and iron carbonate precipitation [18, 19]. This
enables calculations of the corrosion rate over a pipeline
profile. An oil wetting factor is used for crude oil systems, but
not for gas condensate. Oil wetting and no corrosion is assumed
6 Copyright 2002 by ASME
when the water cut is below 40 % and the liquid velocity is
above 1.5 m/s [19]. The effect of protective corrosion films is
relatively small in this model.

The KSC Model is a mechanistic model for CO
2
corrosion
with protective corrosion films developed at Institute for Energy
Technology [20]. The model is based on an electrochemical
model [21] by building it together with a transport model. The
different electrochemical, chemical and transport processes are
simulated. The properties of the protective corrosion films are
correlated with a large number of loop experiments. The model
includes a relatively strong effect of protective corrosion films
which is sensitive to pH and temperature, and therefore tends to
predict low corrosion rates for high temperature and high pH.
The model does not take any effect of oil wetting into account.

The CO
2
corrosion model for pipe flow conditions
developed at the University of Tulsa is a mechanistic single-
phase flow model with detailed modeling of the kinetics of
electrochemical reactions and mass transfer [22]. The model
puts much emphasis on flow modeling and has a high sensitivity
to flow velocity, but no effect of oil wetting. The model has a
very strong effect of protective corrosion films. This effect is
highly dependent of pH, and the model is therefore very
sensitive to variation in pH, with low corrosion rates usually
predicted when the pH value is above 5.

The Predict model is developed by InterCorr International
[23]. The basic part of the model is based on the de Waard
model, but other correction factors are used together with a so-
called effective CO
2
partial pressure calculated from the system
pH. The model includes very strong effects of oil wetting and
protective corrosion films, and this tends to give very low
corrosion rates for many situations. The model has a very strong
pH dependence on the corrosion rate, which tends to give low
corrosion rates when the pH value is higher than 4.5.

The prediction tool SweetCor is developed by Shell for
analysis of CO
2
corrosion by managing a large database of
corrosion data from laboratory experiments and field data [24].
Statistical analysis of the grouped data is used to make
correlations for predicting corrosion rates for specific
conditions. The model includes only a weak effect of protective
corrosion films and does not include any effects of oil wetting.

Corpos is a tool developed by CorrOcean where input from
an external fluid flow model is combined with a point corrosion
model in order to calculate pH and corrosion rate along a
pipeline [25]. The Norsok model is used to calculate the
corrosion rate. A probability of water wetting is calculated
depending on water cut, flow regime, local phase velocities and
emulsion stability. This gives lower corrosion rates than the
Norsok model for pipelines with very low water cut.

A collection of models for predicting corrosion rates in
multiphase flow has been developed at the Corrosion in
Multiphase Systems Center at Ohio University [26]. The model
has a strong effect of protective films and includes also oil
wetting effects. The model has a very strong pH dependence
due to large effects of H
+
mass transport limitation, which tends
to give very low corrosion rates when the pH value is above 5.
The model has less effect of temperature on the corrosion rate
than most of the other models.

The ULL corrosion model consists of a package of
programs developed for gas condensate wells by the University
of Louisiana at Lafayette [27]. The model calculates
temperature and pressure profiles, flow rates and flow regime
and then calculates the pH profile and predicts the corrosion
rate profile along the well. The model puts much weight on
calculating phase equilibria and flow regime. It typically
predicts oil wetting and no corrosion for the part of the tubing
where hydrocarbon condensation is predicted to occur, and
corrosion when only water condenses.

The corrosion model developed by OLI Systems combines
a thermodynamic model for the concentration of molecular and
ionic species of aqueous systems with an electrochemical
corrosion model and a model for formation and dissolution of
iron carbonate or sulfide scales [28]. The model is based on
detailed thermodynamic calculation of the phase equilibria and
the concentration of the different species in the system. The
model includes effects of protective corrosion films, but does
not take any effect of oil wetting into account.

The Electronic Corrosion Engineer model developed by
Intetech is based on the de Waard 95 model, but with a module
for calculation of pH from the water chemistry and bicarbonate
produced by corrosion, and a new oil wetting correlation, which
is dependent on the oil density, the liquid flow velocity and the
inclination of the flow [29]. The water cut where oil wetting
becomes important can be 40 to 50 % for heavy crude oils and
close to zero for light condensate.

Most of the models described above are point models,
predicting the corrosion rate in a single point in a pipeline.
However, the Hydrocor and Lipucor models include a fluid
flow model giving temperature, pressure and corrosion rate
profiles along the pipeline. A corrosion module has been
included in the OLGA three-phase fluid flow model, where the
Norsok model and the de Waard model have been combined
with this fluid flow model in order to calculate corrosion rate
profiles along a pipeline [30]. This makes it possible to
calculate variations in corrosion rate along a pipeline due to
variation in temperature and CO
2
partial pressure, but it also
helps to identify locations where variation in flow regime, flow
velocity and water accumulation may increase the risk for
corrosion damage.

7 Copyright 2002 by ASME
An example of a simulation of corrosion risk in a subsea
gas condensate pipeline is shown in Figure 4. Duplex stainless
steel was selected for this pipeline due to the high CO
2
content,
but in view of later development of corrosion prediction models
and material selection philosophies, it is possible that carbon
steel and inhibitors would have been selected for this pipeline
today. The temperature was 90 C at the inlet and 20 C at the
outlet. The decrease in predicted corrosion rates towards the
end of the pipeline is mainly a result of the decreasing
temperature [30]. The lower corrosion rates close to the
pipeline inlet are due to the effect of protective corrosion films
at high temperature. The peaks in predicted corrosion rates
result from variation in flow velocity around elevated points
along the almost flat seabed. The differences in predicted
corrosion rates between the two models are mainly due to
stronger effects of protective corrosion films in the Norsok
model at temperatures above 40 C for this water chemistry.
CONCLUSIONS
Carbon steel can be used in combination with the pH
stabilization technique can be used for wet gas pipelines under
conditions where stainless steel would otherwise be the only
choice. Cost savings can be more than hundred million dollars
for one pipeline alone. The technique is based on increasing the
pH in the water phase, thereby reducing the corrosion rate by
precipitation of protective corrosion products on the steel
surface. Protective films giving corrosion rates less than
0.1 mm/y are easily formed in the temperature range 40 to
100 C with the pH stabilization technique. It takes longer time
to obtain protection at lower temperatures. The most convenient
way to transport and inject the pH stabilizer in the field is to
mix it with the hydrate preventer, when it usually will be
regenerated together with the glycol. The pH-stabilization
technique is now also considered for fields with mixed systems
of H
2
S and CO
2
.

The pH stabilization technique can not be used in systems
where formation water containing calcium, strontium or barium
is produced in large quantities due to formation of carbonate
scale. Even a small formation water carry-over may in some
cases cause scaling problems or require considerable replenish-
ment of the pH stabilizer. For such pipelines inhibition is the
most used corrosion control method. Selection and qualification
of inhibitors in the laboratory prior to implementation in the
field is essential, and laboratory testing of inhibitors should
reproduce closely the conditions of the field.

Several prediction models for CO
2
corrosion of oil and gas
pipelines are available. The models have very different
approaches in accounting for oil wetting and the effect of
protective corrosion films, and this accounts for much of the
differences in behavior between the models. Some of the
models have a very strong effect of oil wetting for some flow
conditions, while other models do not consider oil wetting
effects at all. Some models include strong effects of protective
iron carbonate films especially at high pH or high temperature.
It is important to understand how the corrosion prediction
models handle especially the effects of oil wetting and
protective corrosion films when the models are used for
corrosion evaluation of large pipelines.
REFERENCES
[1] Dugstad, A., 1992, "The importance of FeCO
3

supersaturation on the CO
2
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CORROSION/92, Paper No. 14.
[2] Dugstad, A., 1998, "Mechanism of Protective Film
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[3] Crolet, J.-L., and Samaran, J. P., 1993, "The use of
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[4] Olsen, S., Lunde, O., and Dugstad, A., 1999, "Stabilizing
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[6] Dugstad, A., and Drnen, P.-E., 1999, "Efficient
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pH-Stabilisation", CORROSION/99, Paper No. 20.
0
5
10
0 5000 10000
Position / m
C
o
r
r
o
s
i
o
n

r
a
t
e

/

(
m
m
/
y
)

de Waard model
Norsok model
Figure 4. Predicted corrosion rate in a pipeline
8 Copyright 2002 by ASME
[7] Gulbrandsen, E., Nyborg, R., Lland, T., and Nisancioglu,
K., 2000, "Effect of Steel Microstructure and
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",
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